The Highest Bidder III
by SilenceMyBrother
Summary: In a last testimony, Mura Lynn gives her account of the exciting journey after Ba Sing Se was conquered by the Fire Nation; how Zuko became an ally; and what Mura did to Azula to have her arrested for severe charges. Zuko x OC. (on Hiatus)
1. My Third and Last Testimony

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter One: My Third and Final Testimony

My name is Mura Lynn, and I am charged with treason against the Four Nations. I am also a suspect (and now a possible convict) for several homicides. This testimony is third of three, and so far, I have explicitly described the events that led to Prince Zuko allying himself with me as a soldier; and I have described how Iroh, Zuko, and I had become fugitives from the Fire Nation. And in my last testimony, I explained how I was separated from Zuko when he chose his loyalty to the Fire Nation over the cause for the Avatar.

To review, the reason why my statements, and why my story is written on these scrolls is because representative (who, by the way, is Fire Nation) has informed the public, along with Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang that I am too dangerous to give my account to the public. History has shown that I possess incredible power that has spiraled out of control when I have become angry, but my jury that has so far listened to my account knows that I am more in control of my emotions. They shouldn't be frightened, but I know that they are.

I am the only telekinetic in the world and I am one of the very few mortals who have been touched by a spirit. I am the spiritual bridge to the physical world from the spirit world, guided and protected by the Mind Spirit, Shen Si Ling. Her contributions to my acts are numerous, though as I have described in the last events that have happened, most of my actions are unassisted. However, I do apologize—and apologize still—for what I had done to Suki's village, and the number of lives that I unintentionally destroyed when I became angry and used my powers to act out my vengeance.

Because my account is increasingly lengthy, and my tale parallels with the adventures of Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, I am obliged by an oath to explain every crucial detail from a smile to a Bending move, in order to placate my involvement in the 100 year war. I can do this effectively because I have an eidetic memory, which can recall explicit memories within the five senses. I am also obliged to fill in any plot holes, in order to help those who were not included in the Avatar's journey (or mine) so that they can understand the timeline better.

Because I have this strong memory, I can relive emotions and my turmoil; and I apologize in the future (once more) if I offend anybody through my storytelling.

Once more, I would like to set the record straight that my loyalty does not belong to the highest bidder—it never has. My lawyer is biased, and as you have heard in the first testimony, he believes that I am a corrupt witch who flips flops sides when it is most convenient for me. That is not true…even if he writes 'Highest Bidder' at the top of my testimonies…Bastard.

Although my friends (and my family) know that what I did in my journeys have been either out of love or protection, I can understand why many believe that I acted on a psychotic dose of loathing at the Fire Nation palace. Let me implore you that what I did to Azula was not an attempt of vengeance. We were childhood friends, and (as you have heard from my last testimony) I blame myself for our lost friendship. For that, I am guilty.

I want it to be known today that I do not feel any grudge or resentment for this trial. It is the Fire Nation soldiers and the commanders of the different outposts, and many citizens of the three Nations who have not heard my story that believe that I am a murderous convict. I'm setting the story straight.

I feel, though, that once you have heard my account, you will know that I did what I had to do in order to save my loved ones, and to spare my lost friend overwhelming pain. If you still think that I am a murderer, I will take my punishment with pride. I will have at least had the chance to defend myself.

So, with this in mind, I will tell you what happened after the Avatar was killed in the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se; and how Prince Zuko came to be one of our most trusted allies and one of our closest friends.


	2. A Course to Chameleon Bay

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Two: A Course to Chameleon Bay

After we left Ba Sing Se, the situation that I had put myself was, in lack of a better word: awkward. However, even though I felt out of place with the Avatar's friends and the king and his bear, I had a slight impression that they had already assumed which side that I had been on this entire time. Even Katara, whom I thought would be the most distrusting, held no grudge against me as I sat down beside her to examine the revived Avatar in her arms. The entire crew was silent as Appa flew over Ba Sing Se; and as I gazed back at the great city, I felt overwhelming feelings of guilt and sadness.

Guilt suppressed my one light of relief that had led me to safety; I left Iroh back in the crystal catacombs. Although he had pled for me to go and leave him behind, I felt as if I hadn't tried hard enough to save him from the Fire Nation. I felt sadness, and anger, toward Zuko. He had a perfect life in Ba Sing Se, but the moment that Azula granted him a chance at regaining his honor and Fire Lord Ozai's love, he took the bait. I wasn't sure which feeling toward Zuko was strongest; though anger and sadness tended to coincide when it was relevant to Fire Nation prince. For certain, I knew that one of the emotions that I was feeling was the relative hurt of betrayal.

I didn't blame Zuko for wanting everything to return to normal. All his life, he had been Fire Nation royalty, even during his banishment. I had long forfeited that life, and I was used to living as a fugitive; Zuko didn't like that life. So I knew why he joined Azula. But I was hurt because I thought that I was his world; and that he was mine. I thought we would spend the rest of our lives living in Ba Sing Se with Iroh; but obviously, I was wrong.

I remained a dismal shell on the bison's saddle, falling into a silent retreat of despair. It seemed that my reason for grief didn't need any explanation. Toph, Sokka, and Katara said nothing to me as I pulled my knees to my stomach and looked behind us at the forsaken city, which glimmered like a star in the distance. I had examined Aang; just by looking at him, I knew that he was very much alive, though he had fallen into a state of catatonic sleep. It only meant that he was healthy, and his health was really only silver lining in our storm of misfortune.

The king's home was left to abandon; so the Earth Kingdom armies were forfeit as well. The Fire Nation had control of the Dai Li, which only meant that Long Feng had run his course; especially if Azula had managed to convince the secret agents to vouch for her rather than their long-term minister. I had overheard their conversation while I had been performing a psychic sweep to search for Katara and Zuko under the earth capital. Even the Earth Kingdom generals—the King's Council of Five—was lost to the Fire Nation's cause. The Dai Li were the main front for power. Azula was right about that: whoever controlled the Dai Li controlled Ba Sing Se.

What else that I was angry about was that I thought, deep down, Azula would have realized that I no longer wanted her as an enemy. Even when she was firing lightning at me back in the royal palace, I couldn't even redirect it at her. Although I held our friendship with a grudge as well, I had hoped countless times that Azula would see that I truly regretted our lost friendship; especially since I was responsible for the loss. Once more, I fell for her bait, just as Zuko had.

I scorned myself for that too.

Needless to say, I was not in the mood for criticism. However, that seemed to be the first thing that popped out of Sokka's mouth.

"So," he began, folding his arms, "you're on our side now?"

"Yes." I said apathetically, staring at my feet. The opening of the conversation would lead to questions about loyalty, so I volunteered the information upfront, to Sokka's pleasure. "I'm a telekinetic," I began, continuing to deadpan stare at my sandals. "I can read minds and move things at will; and before you start bombarding me with questions about what happened in Ba Sing Se: No, I didn't know that Zuko was going to turn his back on Katara or me. And yes, it does bother me that he did."

I looked up to see Sokka wearing an expression that puzzled me.

"What?" I asked flatly, confused myself.

"Well," he said lightly with an offering hand, "I didn't know that you were going to spill so easily. I had all these questions made up and everything."

Sokka pulled a green Earth Kingdom souvenir bag from his side. He took out a long scroll and unrolled it, showing me what looked like a well-prepared, albeit lengthy line of questioning. Slightly amused, I gave it a brief look-through and glanced at him curiously.

"You '_want to know my last name'?_" I asked, reading from the scroll.

"You're one of the good guys now," Sokka said, leaning back against the saddle. "Team Avatar has to know everything about everyone who joins the team."

"Sokka," said Katara from Appa's shoulders, "I told you to drop the '_Team Avatar'_ bit. It's never going to catch on. Besides," she continued as Sokka gave her an annoyed, though humorous expression, "I don't really think that we have any reason to doubt Mura. It's not like she's a stranger or something. Every time that we've met her, she's somehow proved that she's actually in favor of Aang's survival."

Toph included herself in the conversation; Sokka expressed his growing depression, for he could not introduce me to the long interrogation that he had planned. Toph looked in my general direction.

"Katara's right," she agreed. "After all, if she wasn't on our side, she wouldn't have threatened that Dai Li agent back in Ba Sing Se."

"Yeah," said Sokka suddenly interrogating me, "what exactly did you do? You did some creepy stuff every time we met you, but that looked really bad—and you're in no position to bargain."

He placed his face directly in mine; his eyes widened as he had said the last sentence. Toph grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back. Katara crawled up Appa's shoulders, carrying Aang with difficulty as she stepped onto the saddle. Katara held the Avatar's head in her lap. She looked at me with a small smile.

"I never was able to thank you," the Waterbender remarked. "It must have been hard to go out of your way to protect Aang and me."

"Hard," I said sadly, "and painful…"

"I'm sorry that you had to leave your family behind," said Katara quietly. "All of us know what that feels like. We lost our mother to the Fire Nation."

I lowered my gaze back to my feet as the feeling of guilt swept over me once more.

"I lost my family when I left the Fire Nation," I said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Katara kindly. She sat beside me, wearing an enduring, concerned look on her face. Her blue eyes were glazed with emotion and a need for understanding. Seeing that look, that caring—I opened up.

"I'm the daughter of a Fire Nation nobleman," I began, pulling my knees to my stomach. "He was a weapon salesman, a merchant, for Fire Lord Ozai. My mom was a stay-at-home housewife, as are most mothers. I used to play with Azula and Zuko when I was a kid; that's how I know them so well," I added when Katara and Sokka looked at me strangely. "Ozai learned that I had this remarkable power, so he told my dad if it was true—that I could do things with my mind—Dad would be one treated like royalty, just like the Fire Lord. But I had to prove to Ozai that I could do it."

"So what happened?" asked Katara.

"Back then, I could only use my powers if I was in imminent danger," I said with a grimace. "So Fire Lord Ozai ordered me to throw Azula off a flight of stairs to prove my worth; if I did, Dad would get his reward. If I didn't, Azula would burn me; and my dad would be locked away for lying." I sighed. "I couldn't throw Azula down the stairs; it was against my moral standing at the time, and anything that I thought was wrong couldn't be done. Azula burned me with Firebending, and my dad was put in jail."

"So why did you leave?" asked Katara curiously.

"Dad was the only provider; so while Zuko was giving me a tour of the house, I broke into the treasure room and stole some gold and jewelry. I made it to my house and gave Mom the treasure; but by that time, the guards were alerted. I was charged with theft and treason."

"Was your mom all right?" asked Katara softly.

"I don't know," I muttered. "I left before I could find out what happened to her."

"So," said Sokka somberly, "for all you know…"

"My parents could be dead," I finished his sentence delicately.

Silence befell us all. Sokka took the scroll that he had unraveled from his bag and looked over it. He handed it to me and pointed to one of the questions.

"Can you answer a few of these?" he asked nicely.

"Sokka…" Katara scolded. I motioned for her not to continue.

"He has a right to know," I said, feeling myself smile at his persistence.

I took another gander at the scroll, and I proceeded to answer them out loud as I read through them.

"Yes," I said, indicating ten questions that were related to my psychokinesis, "I can do all of these. And then some," I added proudly. "Yes, I am an animal empath. Yes, I can read minds. No, I do not have the ability to…_'conjure food'_—" I looked at him skeptically. "What exactly do you think that I can do?"

"Well, I don't know what you people can do!" said Sokka defensively.

I pinched the bridge of my nose to weather my temper.

"I'm not a witch," I said clearly. "It's not like I can charm hog-monkeys to tap dance or…'_make Appa sing like a screeching swamp bird'._" Sokka smiled slightly. "Sokka, you added this to your line of questioning? You want me to make the Avatar's sky bison sing like an annoying bird?"

"We might get bored on the way to Chameleon Bay," said Sokka, snatching the scroll out of my hands.

"Why would we go to Chameleon Bay?" I asked curiously.

"That's where our dad is," volunteered Katara. "Our dad is the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Chameleon Bay was the last time that Sokka saw him."

"We're going to lead an invasion," explained Toph. "There's a solar eclipse that's going to happen in a few months; so we're going to raid the Fire Nation while its play. Then Aang's going to fight the Fire Lord."

I nodded in understanding.

"But he hasn't learned all the elements," I said, indicating the comatose Avatar.

"How do you know that?" said Sokka suspiciously.

I looked at him kookily.

"Well, for one, he didn't Firebend in Ba Sing Se; and two, where would he find a Firebending teacher?"

Katara and Sokka exchanged notable glances. I smiled as Sokka narrowed his eyes at me.

"Did you know about the solar eclipse?" he asked warily.

"The Fire Nation doesn't know that it's going to happen," I said. "But I'm pretty sure that they're aware of what happened during the Day of Black Sun—"

Before I could finish my sentence completely, Sokka crawled toward me and got in my face again.

"_How do you know about Day of Black Sun?"_

"Calm down, man," I said, amused. "I'm knowledgeable, all right? I went to school before I left my country. And," I added, "I'm a spiritual link to Shen Si Ling…the Mind Spirit. So yeah, I know a lot of things."

"I thought the Mind Spirit was Wan Shi Tong," Toph said aloud.

"That big creepy owl who tried to kill us in the desert?" recalled Sokka, pulling back from me.

"Not Wan Shi Tong," I said notably. "Shen Si Ling. Wan Shi Tong is the knowledge spirit: he who knows 10,000 things. Shen Si Ling is the Mind Spirit, who governs over mind, heart, soul, and body. My situation is not too different from Princess Yue."

"Well," said Sokka, suddenly sad, "she's the Moon Spirit now…"

"Oh," I said. I bit my cheek uncomfortably. "I'm sorry…"

"His girlfriend turned into the moon," Toph noted swiftly.

I glanced up at the sky and observed the full moon above us.

I stiffened a forceful smile.

"She's pretty…" I managed.

"Thanks." Sokka mumbled, also looking back at the circle in the sky.

I clicked my tongue to open the silence with noise.

"So," said Katara with interest, "what did you do after you left the Fire Nation?"

"I lived on an island; the one that has the Eastern Air Temple," I recalled. "Lovely place with enough vegetation to feed Appa; and fruit that is delicious, it's heartbreaking. There are enough animals to feed an army; but I couldn't eat them."

"You're a vegetarian like Aang?" asked Toph, showing disgust.

"Well, I usually just eat the animals that died of natural causes," I admitted.

"Why didn't you just use your powers?" asked Sokka. He gestured with his hands to mime telekinesis. "It would have been easier to hunt."

"Moving animals and moving people are against free will," I said dutifully.

"You move people," Sokka noted with a frown.

"Only those who aren't essentially strong-minded," I replied. "I realized this when I tried to move Azula. Not even a wiggle." I uttered unhappily.

"So you must have met Zuko on your island," Katara continued my story. "Right?"

"He came onto my island, searching for Aang." I narrated. "It was Iroh who realized who I was. Then I went onto Zuko's ship, and I told him that I was all for him capturing the Avatar and returning to the Fire Nation with honor. However, I had two conditions. If the Avatar was killed, I would join you guys and overthrow the Fire Lord. And two, I wouldn't go home with him if he was welcomed back."

"You didn't believe that you would be accepted," Toph understood. "You're pretty smart for a Fire Nation girl."

"Well," I said with a shrug, "yeah, but there was another reason."

"Which is…?" inquired Sokka with genuine curiosity.

"I'm terribly afraid of Fire Lord Ozai," I confessed.

"But," Sokka said in disbelief, "you could control him with your mind."

"You don't understand." I turned to him. "I have incredible power, but it takes a lot out of me to use it. And the better part of my powers takes anger."

"So it's like Firebending," Sokka said tonelessly. "We'll just make you mad and bam, total control."

"It's not that easy."

Sokka frowned.

I looked to my left. I had almost forgotten that the Earth King was with us. He looked at me with interest; for he had been listening to our conversation the entire time. Something in his eyes seemed to register who I was.

"You're the little girl that was banished from Ba Sing Se," he said.

At his comment, Sokka, Katara, and Toph looked at him, their faces in apparent surprise. King Keui had no immediate reaction to their reproachful looks. I had anticipated that he hadn't been the one who ordered my exile. After all, I knew that it was Long Feng for quite some time. I never forgot a voice or a face.

"You banished her?" said Katara disapprovingly.

"Not him," I said in quick defense for the king. "His advisor did."

"I had no idea," said King Keui remorsefully. "I was told that you were creating so much trouble. I was told that you killed some people on the outskirts of Ba Sing Se."

"Well," I said despairingly, "that wasn't a lie."

"You killed…?" whispered Katara.

"Not on purpose," I said quickly. "Not when I was little, anyway…"

The Earth King looked at me sadly.

"I had no idea that you were so young."

"Well, he was a trusted advisor." I said simply.

"That's no excuse," said Toph roughly.

I shook my head, attempting to explain my statement.

"The Earth King," I informed the others, "was born with the crown on his head."

King Keui looked at me with slight fascination.

"He was crowned when he was five," I explained via story-telling. "He was young, and he couldn't have the capacity to rule Ba Sing Se, so Long Feng was made his regent and sole advisor. King Keui is merely the figure head of the Earth Kingdom culture, the overall pleasantries of Ba Sing Se. And Long Feng was put in charge of the military defenses…and the Dai Li." I looked at King Keui with a drawn smile. "I said that I knew a few things." I added slyly.

"How is it," asked the Earth King, "that you know so much?"

"The Fire Nation does its homework too," I remarked confidently. "But," I said with a sigh, "Some use that research for considerable gain; nothing worse than a greedy Firebender."

"You're talking about Ozai, right?" asked Sokka awkwardly.

"Well, actually, I was talking about Zhao," I said.

Bosco, the Earth King's pet bear, uttered a restless noise beside me. He crawled a little bit and lied down beside me, setting his big, fuzzy head in my lap. King Keui smiled delightfully.

"Well," said the King cheerfully, "at least you can be trusted."

"I have to say," said Sokka, thumbing his chin, "I didn't like you when I first met you, Mura. But you're not all that bad, I guess."

"Well, the first that I met you," I said, stroking Bosco's head, "I was with Zuko. I can understand the instant distrust."

I felt the stab of sadness, but briefly swept it away. Katara looked at me with a distant withering look. I avoided her gaze, knowing that she would want me to talk about the entire situation with Zuko. I found it easy to speak his name; though it was a reminder of what happened in Ba Sing Se. Bosco uttered a pleasurable groan as I pet his ears.

I raised his face from my laps and nuzzled his nose,

"_Who's a big poof? You're a big poof,"_ I said playfully.

The Earth King grinned as I played with the bear's floppy cheeks. Bosco seemed to smile. Katara snickered beside Sokka, who was looking at me funny. Bosco opened his mouth to reveal his rows of sharp teeth and uttered a happy growl.

"I'm surprised this is an actual bear," I told the Earth King, amused.

Toph, Sokka, and Katara glanced at me. They smiled simultaneously; and I wasn't sure why.

"So," I sighed, turning to Sokka, "this invasion plan of yours: you made this up all by yourself or what? How did you learn about the solar eclipse? How do you even know it's going to happen?"

"We sort of came upon a secret library in the desert," said Sokka.

I stared at him.

"A secret library?"

"Yeah, underground," Sokka said. He looked at me strangely as my tone turned grave. "Why, is it not a secret?"

I heard the voice of Zhao in my head, when he had me on his ship before he attacked the North Pole_: "I was a young Lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom. I discovered a hidden library, underground in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words 'moon' and 'ocean'. I knew then that these spirits could be found—and killed. And that it was destiny to do so._"

"It doesn't matter now," I said loosely.

"Anyway," Sokka pressed on, "we found out that the solar eclipse left the Fire Nation defenseless. Katara made a point that it could really help us, especially if it's as bad as the lunar eclipse."

"Mm-hm," I nodded. "Well, with the Earth Kingdom in the Fire Nation's hands, don't you think that the Dai Li will have put together that the solar eclipse is just a few months away, too? If the Earth King knew about it, then so does Azula," I said, gesturing toward King Keui as I mentioned him.

"Only a few knew about the invasion," said Sokka. "It's not going to be a problem."

"Okay," I said listlessly, "well, you don't have the Earth Kingdom armies anymore."

Katara bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully.

"Well, we still have Aang; and now we have you," she said, pointing to me. "We're not entirely defenseless. We have a lot of friends around the Earth Kingdom and the rest of the world. You'd be surprised who we have met."

"Well," I said with a sigh, "I suppose you could always bring in the Freedom Fighters."

Katara and Sokka gave me alarmed expressions.

"I ran into Jet when Zuko, Iroh, and I were working as tea servers," I informed them swiftly. "He tried to attack me," I added specifically.

Katara's face looked as if it had been wounded; and so did Toph. Sokka shared their looks of agony, and I realized that I had something off color.

"Long Feng took care of Jet," said Sokka with sad eyes.

Needless to say, I was shocked.

"Oh. I'm sorry," I said sincerely.

I looked down at my lap, where Bosco had fallen asleep. He was slobbering over my tea maker's uniform as he dozed. As he exhaled, he made a humorous blubbering sound. It was adorable. King Keui patted Bosco's head happily.

"You do have a way with animals," the king said.

"Sort of comes with the gift," I remarked.

I turned to Sokka.

"Aang's part of your plan, I imagine. What are you going to do about his sleeping habits?" I motioned toward the Avatar, who was still in his coma-like slumber. "I don't suppose you intend to throw him at the Fire Lord like an arrowhead dummy."

"He's just sleeping," Katara said, less than worried. "He was shocked a chest full of lightning. I don't think you can just recover from that."

"I've had my share," I said with a shrug. I looked to Sokka, impressed. "So you really have all this figured out, don't you? Thought all of it through, eh?"

"Yes." Sokka said, puffing out his chest proudly. "Yes, I have."

"Well, when we get to Chameleon Bay, I would appreciate it if you tell your dad and his other warriors that I'm on your side if it's all right with you," I said summarily.


	3. What I Know

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Three: What I Know

King Keui and I dropped into a conversation about tea. He had heard of the Jasmine Dragon, which I informed him—to his amazement—that the owner of the Tea House was actually General Iroh. The Earth King inhabited a fondness for the simpler things himself, which is why he had always wanted to try Iroh's tea shop; but he had never stepped out of the palace until the Avatar's party showed him that the war between the Fire Nation and the two other nations existed. Long Feng had disguised the war from the Earth King the whole time that it was going on; and evidently, Sokka, Katara, and Toph convinced the Earth King that all that Long Feng had declared was a lie.

While Zuko, Iroh, and I had been living peacefully in Ba Sing Se, the Fire Nation had incorporated a massive drill to break through the wall; however, it was quickly expunged by Team Avatar. Azula had made up an elite team to travel with her, which included my old friends, Mai and Ty Lee. The three ladies battled with Aang and Katara; with some help from Toph and Sokka, the Fire Nation's plan failed.

Since Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Aang had been in Ba Sing Se for a month, it led to me a question that popped in my head just moments after Sokka told me how Katara stopped Ty Lee from blocking her chi.

"If all of you were in Ba Sing Se," I questioned, "how is it that you learned that your father was in Earth Kingdom waters?"

"Long Feng intercepted our mail," said Toph pathetically. "He took a letter from Guru that was meant for Aang, along with a letter that was supposedly from my mom. Turns out it was those two guys who were hired by my dad to come find me."

"Were these two men Earthbenders?" I asked whimsically.

"Yeah," said Toph lazily.

"That's strange; two Earthbenders had been looking for Zuko, Iroh, and me too."

"That actually isn't too surprising," said Sokka nonchalantly. "You'll find that when you travel with us, you're pretty much hunted all the time."

"I am hunted all the time," I stated monotonously.

"Dad sent us a report from Chameleon Bay," explained Sokka, continuing to answer my question. "The reason why we think that he's still there is that before we found out that Katara had been in trouble with Azula, he and I were about to eliminate a few Fire Nation ships that were heading toward Ba Sing Se. Dad was supposed to keep the Bay unoccupied."

"Well," I said, tapping my chin, "don't you think that the Fire Nation will be coming to Ba Sing Se by the fleet load?"

"We already anticipated that," said Katara, crossing her legs. "But now that you're with us, you could tell us what the Fire Nation will do. You know, since you _are_ Fire Nation."

"I may be pale and have golden eyes, but that doesn't mean I'm the expert on naval command," I said, folding my arms grumpily. "Just because I worked with the Fire Nation, it doesn't mean I'm an expert."

"But," said Toph seriously, "you _do_ know what they'll do, right?"

"Well, yeah," I said, realizing that I just contradicted my prior statement. "I was a commander on Prince Zuko's ship; I should know a few things, shouldn't I?"

Sokka grinned.

"See, all good news."

"So," said Katara, motioning toward me, "we are right to assume that the Fire Nation will be coming to Chameleon Bay, right?"

I considered the possibility for a few minutes. I absent-mindedly stroked Bosco's furry head as I pondered the matter shortly.

"Well, the Fire Nation reinforcements will be on their way to support the occupation; so the bay will be swarming with Navy ships in about a day. It really all depends on how quick Azula and Zuko get back to the Fire Nation Capital."

Sokka and Katara looked relieved.

"Though," I added, to their dismay, "if I know Azula, she'll dispatch a black ribbon messenger hawk to Fire Lord Ozai, which will give us about half a day. However," I began again, making the Water Tribe siblings change expressions to the former, "I would think that Prince Zuko and Princess Azula would want to tell their father about the single-handed defeat of Ba Sing Se _and_ the Avatar…"

"So there's a good chance that the Fire Nation will already be there…" Toph said somberly.

Bosco seemed to agree with Toph as he moaned in my lap. Katara looked at Aang feebly, who was still asleep. I smiled warmly at the sleeping Avatar. Katara looked at me with a concerned gaze.

"I just want to know something…" she said lightly.

I already knew what she wanted to know; and I didn't have to read her mind to figure it out. Sokka looked at his sister warily, but he let her speak her mind. Before Katara could open her mouth to ask the known question, I gave her the information, freely offered.

"Zuko and I," I began, and she looked at me suppressed shock, "worked together to find the Avatar for six months. He recruited me on his ship; though it took me that long for him to trust me. When Ozai sent Azula after us, it was specifically clarified that Ozai wanted to make me a lethal weapon; Iroh and Zuko were supposed to be taken as prisoners. We were on the run for a long time; and because it was just the three of us, we had to look out for each other."

"But how could you love…?" asked Katara with a small look of disgust.

I gave her a gentle smile, though one that I knew that didn't reach my eyes.

"When you fall in love, Katara," I said sadly, "you tend to ignore the flaws. You or anybody else here never saw what I saw in Prince Zuko. He has a harsh temper, and he can be somewhat rash, and impulsive, and sometimes he just doesn't listen to anybody."

I felt my mouth twist into a loving smile; and I spoke of him fondly,

"Behind the hard exterior and that shadow that makes him so brash, he's protective. And kind," I added. My smile fell as I remembered what happened in Ba Sing Se. "Unless you realize that in the end, you were never more than a dream…"

Katara set a hand on my shoulder. Once more, I felt my eyes burn, and I scorned myself for crying about him again. However, Katara said nothing as I felt the hot tears leak out of my eyes. Sokka said nothing about discouragement of the angry jerk as the tears rolled down my cheeks. Toph and the Earth King turned away as I felt my tears run down my chin and empty onto the head of a sleeping Bosco.


	4. A More Than Friendly Chief

A/N: _This is the last installment of the Highest Bidder (I mean, really: three books, three fan fiction novel, this was obviously coming _T.T_). I hope you have enjoyed it, thus far. _

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Four: A More Than Friendly Chief

It was less than a day's travel to Chameleon Bay. On the map, the bay was just next to Lake Laogai. As we flew over Ba Sing Se, Sokka brought up the topic of my _Naginata_. The discussion was turned to my weapon of choice because he was reflecting to our first true encounter: it was when I was returning from Piandao's castle, and I was using my _Naginata _to prove a point. Although the discussion was brief, he asked where I come across such a unique relic, due to the fact that this sort of weapon was made mainly for women, rather than men.

I relayed to him the information of the _Naginata_ that Piandao had relayed to me in our first lesson. Although we had just met and I had become some sort of ally to him, I knew that he didn't trust me, due to the fact that I was Fire Nation. However, as we started to talk about weapons (because he was a soldier, and my father was a weapons' merchant), I felt that our conversation had become our first bonding moment. I knew that it would take more time to gain his full trust—as was with anyone—but I knew then that at least that I was a tolerable member of the group. Then, I was content with just that. I showed Sokka how my _Naginata_ retracted when I wanted it to, and I showed him the blade and the inscription that I had created along the staff.

"'_Know your body. Know your limitations. Then dare to stretch your horizons.'"_ Sokka read the words out as he followed the lettering with a finger. He observed the staff and then looked at the blade, admiring the work. "So," he said, intrigued, "you made this yourself?"

"With some help," I added. "I was referred to a sword master in the case that I couldn't use my psychokinesis for protection. I'm good at it," I said, and then shrugged, "but I still like to use my powers. It's like my signature, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think I do. You know quite a bit, don't you?"

"Yes," I confirmed with a smile, "but there is a lot that I don't know too. I think that I'm perceptive, but even I can be wrong about people. That's why I prefer the company of animals…"

The Avatar's flying lemur tittered as he crawled out of Katara's lap and came toward me. I watched Momo scamper up my arm. His furry feet prodded softly as he sat down on my shoulder. Momo's ringed tail wrapped around my neck. His long ears winged up and down as his green eyes watched me, big and almost pleading. I reached to pat his smooth head. Momo closed his eyes and made a pleasant purr as I did so; I smiled at him, enjoying his company as he enjoyed mine.

Toph spoke to me plainly.

"So if you're connected to the Spirit World, and you know that Aang is important, how you come you wanted him to be captured? Surely you had to know that the Fire Nation wanted him dead anyway. Why go through all the trouble?"

"Well," I began as Sokka looked at me questionably, "at first, I thought that the Avatar was dead too, just like the rest of the world. So when Zuko was given the task to find him, I thought he was trying to succeed what his forefathers couldn't. It was sort of like a never-ending field trip, and I was fine with that."

"But what about what happened in Ba Sing Se?" asked Katara curiously. "I mean, when Zuko found out that we were in the city, did you think that he would try to capture him then?"

"Zuko was—is…_was_ a changed person," I said, struggling for the correct word. I gestured for some kind of understanding. "You had to be there to know what I thought. I thought he had changed for the better; so when he found out that Appa was missing, I was certain that he would just let it go. The obsession never helped him ever; so I figured he would learn from his mistakes and go on from there." I sighed, exhaling a brief rise in temper. "I thought he had changed; I thought he chose well. But I don't think he could ever refuse a chance to reunite with his dad."

"Doesn't seem like it," said Toph sourly.

"Look," I said temperamentally, "any other person might have seen this coming, but I wanted Zuko to see that there was more to life than royalty. I didn't think happiness was defined as being surrounded by servants."

"If you could go back," asked Sokka curiously, "and you could be accepted in the Fire Nation, would you return?"

"No," I answered. Even the king looked at me with peculiar glances. I didn't even hesitate. I took my _Naginata_ out of Sokka's hands and lay in my lap. "I know that the Fire Nation is hated by the other nations. But you should know that my country isn't cruel. It's ruled by a cruel man. The entire world is full of good people, and even in the Fire Nation, they exist."

"If the Fire Nation is so good," said Katara spitefully, "then why is it that we're always facing somebody who was unkind? Every person that we have met from your country is mean and hateful."

"That's not true, Katara," said Toph from beside me. "Iroh was Fire Nation, and he was nice to me—to all of us."

"He's an exception," I said with fondness. "I don't think that he has a cruel bone in his body, that man. If anything, Iroh was a father to me. He was closest thing to it anyway. Even my own dad seemed a bit…off."

"What do you mean?" asked Katara gently.

"A Fire Nation baby is born either a bender or a non-bender," I said. "But what happens when a parent discovers that their child is neither, but a girl who possesses such raw power…?" I smiled weakly. "My parents loved me, yes. But they feared me too, along with everybody else. The only reason that I had friends was because Azula didn't see my power as something to be afraid of. It was actually Azula who told me that I should see my gift as what it is: raw power and power alone."

"You were close to that crazy girl, weren't you?" said Toph.

"Close? We were inseparable," I chuckled, crossing my arms. "Everyone sees her as a monster. But I can see that she's more than that underneath her cruel exterior. She suffers the same abuse that Zuko has. Except her pain is emotional…and she hides it very well."

"Whatever," scoffed Sokka, "I don't think there is anything psychologically wrong with her; she's sick and twisted. I'm just saying," he said when I shot him a look; "her tree doesn't reach the top branch."

"Hey!" the king exclaimed in delight as he pointed forward.

Our conversation was brought to a pleasant halt as all of us—except Toph—looked over the side of Appa's saddle to peer onto the ocean's surface. There were three Water Tribe ships floating on the water; and according to the sheer pleasure on Katara and Sokka's faces, I knew that they had finally spotted their father's fleet at last. Katara took Appa's reins and lowered the sky bison into Chameleon Bay, away from the coast guards of Ba Sing Se. Appa landed on the shore with grace. Toph, Sokka, and Katara jumped off Appa and landed in the sand. Toph sunk to her knees and kissed the grainy surface and spoke with such a loving caress,

"Oh, I never thought I would miss sand this much!"

She spat out several clumps of it out of her mouth and rose to her feet, smiling widely.

I turned to the king, who smiled cheerfully as I helped him up. I levitated myself off the sky bison and landed on the sandy shore. I motioned for the king to follow; he was about to lift his foot when he gave a delightful cry of surprise as he was lifted into the air by an invisible hand.

Katara and Sokka turned to see what had made King Kuei shout. They beamed as they saw me use my powers to lower the king to the ground. Bosco roared his discomfort as I motioned him to the ground as well. As I turned, the Water Tribe fleet was pulling in. Toph steadied herself on the sand. She held out her hands, which trembled in her concentration. From the water, three masses of earth shot out like long docks, making port for the ships that were sailing closer. Katara stepped into the shallow end and pulled the waves with her Waterbending.

The Water Tribe warriors unloaded from the three ships, coming down the docks disbanded. They were all friends, I observed, as they threw their arms around each other's soldiers like old brothers, laughing and carrying on. Immediately, I liked them. Their attitudes were a lot different than in the Fire Nation, which strongly advocated strict military disciplines and formal greetings. The Water Tribe siblings run up to a handsome, older man who—according their warm embrace and strong family resemblance—I assumed was their father, Chief Hakoda. Beside him traveled a second man, who apparently was a close family friend. I discovered that man to be Bato, one of Hakoda's long-time friends.

Hakoda regarded Toph with respect, knowing her to be one of Sokka and Katara's familiar buddies. He came to me with a strange look on his face. He glanced at Sokka, who nodded in approval. Hakoda cocked his head to the side and observed my features for a minute.

I bowed my head and smiled,

"Chief Hakoda, it is an honor to meet the father of Sokka and Katara. You must be very proud." I gestured to his children, who beamed at my statement. "Sokka's a strong and brave warrior; and Katara is a gifted Waterbender."

His stony looked melted almost instantly; I was startled when he grabbed my arm and pulled me in for a swift hug; I even gasped when he did so, taking me fully by surprise. His Water Tribe buddies laughed in unison when he embraced me. Even when he let me go, I felt that my face had practically frozen with astonishment.

"Sir," I said, staring at him, "I'm not sure what just happened."

"I know that you look like the Fire Nation type," said Hakoda, "but I'm pretty sure that you don't act like one. You should really think about changing that hair," he added as his hand admired the waist length braid that protruded from my head. "Any friend of Sokka's is a friend of mine. And from what rumors say from the North Pole and Ba Sing Se, I consider you a personal friend." He nudged me in the arm as he said the last.

I stared at him, still stunned.

"What are they saying? Who's 'they'?"

Bato came up from beside him and shook my head with pleasure.

"The rumors say that you know the natural order of right and wrong; and that in the North Pole, you killed Admiral Zhao after he killed the Moon Spirit."

I frowned at this knowledge.

"I didn't kill anybody…" I said darkly.

"Mura," said Hakoda, still smiling, "All of us knows that you're a telekinetic; it's pretty obvious that some kind of spirit looks after you. I think it works for you that people think you killed in the name of justice."

"I didn't kill in the name of justice," I said, frowning. "I _tried_ to kill the Admiral because he tried to kill my lover."

At this point, Katara stepped in and swiftly explained the situation to Hakoda,

"She used to date the Fire Nation prince."

Hakoda seemed to grasp this with grace; his expression changed from shock, to disgust, and then to resolve into a certain kind of look that said _"Huh, well, what can you do?"_ Hakoda shrugged his shoulders.

I turned to Sokka and Katara.

"Okay, so you found your dad, now what?"

"Well, we should make camp," proposed Sokka decisively. "We've had a long day."

"I'm not sure that it's safe to do that," I advised gently.

Hakoda looked at me curiously and said,

"Do you know about the Fire Nation strategies?"

"I was a commander on Prince Zuko's ship," I said simply. "I know quite a few things about the Fire Navy ships. Azula and Zuko have to sail by ship to get back to the Fire Nation capital. And if they think that the Avatar is dead, they won't be in too much of a hurry. And," I added, tapping my chin thoughtfully, "it's not like anybody in the Earth Kingdom can undo what's been done." I glanced at the Earth King with a flushed face, realizing what I had said so easily. "Oh, I'm sorry, Your Highness…I—"

The Earth King shrugged carelessly.

"It doesn't matter, Mura," he said. To my surprise, he smiled. "I've decided that I'm not going back to royalty. You were right, child. Life is all about what you make it." He ripped off his royal robes to the bare minimum of clothing. He wore nomad clothing underneath his fancy wardrobe. He also wore a look of glee on his face.

I looked at him, amused.

"I want to travel the Earth Kingdom in disguise," said the Earth King, approaching me. "So, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather nobody knew."

Hakoda and the others watched as the Earth Kingdom handed me a ring from his finger.

"I'm sorry about what Long Feng did to you," he said gently. He placed the jeweled band in the palm of my hand then closed my fingers over it. I met his green eyes; he was looking at me with compassion and a plea of forgiveness. "You came to Ba Sing Se searching for understanding, and you were turned away for being different. So if this war ends with peace and prosperity, I want _you_ to rule in my stead."

My mouth fell open as I stared at him incredulously. I looked over my shoulder; Katara and Sokka shared dumbfounded expressions. The Water Tribe soldiers looked on in similar shock. I looked back at the king, who now stood with his pet bear.

"Mura," said the king, "in the past few hours that I've talked to, you have been shown me that the life you've led has been cruel to you. Yet you still hone such compassion and love others. You have made decisions based on rationality and facts. Please, Mura; I can't trust anybody in my country: not the Dai Li or anybody."

I felt my mouth try to make words, and all I could do was stammer.

"Sir, I—This—I mean—I—"

The king said nothing more as he waved good bye to his fellow companions and hopped onto Bosco's back, leaving us in a state of amazement.

My friends and the jury of the court, King Keui left on his own accord. For those who suspect me in his homicide, he currently resides on the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom in a simple cottage hut with a family of his own. He desired a life of peace and simplicity, and that was what I gave him. I told nobody where he lived because he wanted a commoner's life.

I mean, the man was five-years-old when he was crowned king over Ba Sing Se. There wasn't even a childhood.

After the king left, Hakoda turned to me, a bit dazzled by what had happened.

"You think," he said, pushing the rest of us back into the situation at hand, "that the Fire Navy will be here in a few hours?"

"I'd give it about a day," I predicted, looking at the ocean. "I mean, perhaps it's not a bad idea to make camp. Maybe Aang will be awake by then. He's in a coma," I added when Hakoda looked at me funny. "Azula shot him with lightning; Katara pulled him back."

"Oh," said Hakoda quietly. He glanced to see Katara helping a sleeping Aang off Appa's saddle. "So he's still healthy, right?"

"Yeah," I said with a smile. "He was dead, but Katara saved him with spirit water. His recovery will be slow; but he'll be in tip top shape in no time."

"How can you know this?" asked Bato curiously.

"I'm the portal of the mind spirit," I said with a cheeky grin. "I know a lot of things."


	5. A Few Nice Things

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Five: A Few Nice Things

Toph, Katara, and Sokka set up camp on the shore of Chameleon Bay. I went with Hakoda and Bato to collect resources for the fire while the other Water Tribe men went fishing for dinner. I gathered wood by motioning for several large, capable branches to come to me, and the bark obeyed. Logs swarmed around Hakoda, Bato, and me from every other direction to stack neatly in my outstretched arms.

"That's some gift you have there," said Hakoda fondly as he bent down to hack a tree with his machete. "I bet it comes in handy, doesn't it?"

"It has its uses," I retorted nonchalantly.

There was an awkward silence that followed.

"So you switched sides, huh?" Bato broke the ice as we walked through the forest.

"Yep," I muttered. "I saw what happened in Ba Sing Se when Aang was zapped," I pressed on, determined to keep the uncomfortable pauses at bay. The Water Tribe chief seemed to listen with interest. "Katara saved him from being captured by the Fire Nation. And I left Zuko and Iroh behind."

"Katara said that you and the prince had a relationship…?" said Hakoda uncomfortably. "I can only imagine how rough this makes on you. Young love is so complicated."

"According to Zuko, there was no relationship," I said coldly.

Hakoda stopped walking. I turned to look at him.

"I…didn't mean to pry," said the chief apologetically. "You can understand why it's a shock to see you traveling in good company. For a long time, you were considered dead. Then the next thing that anybody knows, you're helping Prince Zuko catch Aang; and now this." He gestured empathetically, "It's sort of confusing."

"I changed sides when I realized that even my death wouldn't change Zuko's mind…" I said calmly. "It hurts, but I'll get over it sooner or later."

"It's okay to feel sad," assured Bato. "Nobody can stay strong for so long."

I appreciated their kind words.

"Thank you."

"No problem," said Hakoda. He slapped me consolingly on the shoulder. "Let's get back to camp. It's starting to cool down."

When we returned to Chameleon Bay, the Water Tribe warriors had come back from the fishing trip with a successful catch. Sokka was helping them fillet the fish and preparing the food for roasting. Katara and Toph sat by the shore. Hakoda and Bato threw the wood into a pile. Katara withdrew green emerald spark rocks from a pocket of her robe; I recognized them from the Earth Kingdom.

"This should do the trick," she said as she knelt down by the log pile.

She managed to make a tiny flame from rubbing the rocks together, though it wasn't enough to take the entire wood stock to a full bonfire like she was expecting. She looked downcast. I wordlessly strode toward the teeny tiny flame that danced on the twig. I signaled for Katara and the others to step back. Sokka watched with curiosity as I breathed in slowly, and exhaled carefully out of my nose.

The little flame inflated with my breathing, much like it would do with a full-fledged Firebender. As I drew in larger gulps of air, the tiny flame grew with the rhythmic breaths. I motioned for tiny flame to come off the logs; it floated up into the air and started to dance in my outstretched palm.

Then I targeted the pile of wood.

I accidentally sneezed and my breath blew through the fire in my hand.

A massive blow torch burned in the falling sunset and lit the whole log pile like a marvelous bonfire. There were cries of surprise and a few gasps of shock when the whole scenery was illuminated by the colors of orange and yellows; but the astonishment subsided into appealing applause and chuckles of approval. I sat down beside Katara.

"I can't believe that we're finally together again," Sokka said happily as he embraced his father and sister in an open-armed hug. The family beamed at their reunion. "It's been so long."

"I'm glad that we finally caught up with you," said Hakoda, patting his son on the back. "It seemed forever since I last saw you. We should celebrate. Does anybody know any good songs to sing around a campfire?"

Katara turned to me expectantly.

"I'm not in the mood for singing," I said glumly.

"From what Zuko told me, you're not a bad singer," she said quietly.

I narrowed my eyes at her questionably.

"When did he ever tell you something like that?"

"In Ba Sing Se."

I doubted that very much so; I sort of just figured that she told me that just to make me feel better for the time being. So I scrounged in my brain for a good song to sing around the campfire, and then smiled with appreciation.

"All right," I said, giving in to the proposal. "I have one."

I only remembered this song because I had sung it with General Iroh while on his ship during the first six months, and it was one of the best ones that I had heard and the one of the few songs that he and I sung together. Like all the others, I didn't have to have this sung followed by accompaniment, so the night was silent and peaceful as I sung to the crackling fire.

"_How many times have you heard someone say?_

_If I had his money, I would do things my way?_

_But little do they know, that it's so hard to find,_

_One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind."_

Hakoda and Bato swayed back in forth to the soft melody; it was a slow, lucrative song for a gentle night. Katara smiled at me as I continued to sing the song in a mellow alto. It was a song that any person of any tone could sing and it would still sound committing.

"_Money can't buy back your youth when you're old._

_A friend when you're lonely or peace to your soul._

_The wealthiest person is a pauper at times,_

_Compared to the man with a satisfied mind._

Sokka joined the crew's laid-back sway to the song, holding a roasted fish in his hand, chewing what he had in his mouth. The flying bison approached me from behind, and swayed on the spot as well, to my amusement. Oddly enough, I felt like Iroh: the person in the crew who kept the commoners calm during a harsh storm. And for once, I understood what it meant to be a middle man.

"_My life is over and my time has run out,_

_My friend and my loved ones, I'll leave these no doubt._

_One thing is for certain, when it comes my time,_

_I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind."_

I gestured toward the Water Tribe to join in on the song. Katara was the first to sing with me, followed by Sokka, then their father. Bato and the others joined in last.

"_I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind._

_My life is over and my time has run out._

_My friends and my loved ones, I'll leave these no doubt._

_But one thing's for certain, when it comes my time._

_I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind._

_One thing's for certain, when it comes my time,_

_I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind."_

I gestured to the fire, which had been burning monotonously before us. Katara's smile widened on her face as the smoke started to churn above us. She looked at me appreciatively, for I was using my hands to gesticulate at the rising smoke. Appa gave a pleasant moan from behind me as the smoky clouds transformed into a gray and black formation of a flying bison. I wiggled my fingers, and the smoky Appa disappeared to be replaced by the Earth King and Bosco. I glanced at Toph, who looked emotionless.

So I sat down beside her.

"I can show you something," I told her softly, taking her hand.

"That's gonna be hard for you to do, isn't it?"

I shook my head, though knowing that she couldn't see what I was doing. I gestured to the campfire crew to look at the sandy shore to watch. Toph and I rose to our feet as I guided her to the edge of the shore. The campfire's glow could reach us, so the Water Tribe could see what was happening.

I looked down at the sand and concentrated on the land. Toph could see what I was doing with her feet. Katara and Sokka exchanged curious looks. I stepped forward and knelt down on the ground. As I circled my hand in the air, my fingers prodded the atmosphere with intention. For a moment, everyone looked as if I had lost my mind, but Toph suddenly exclaimed in delight as she looked down at the ground, smiling widely.

Before the Water Tribe, and before Toph, the sand was shifting with animation like a cartoon bending in the sand. It took ounces of concentration to perform, and I could easily feel an oncoming headache, but it was necessary to prove to the Earthbending master that not everything in life that was magnificent had to be seen. The images in the sand ranged from majestic to horrifying: flying horses transformed into fanged dragons; they took the form of the Spirits as well. The dragons switched to the Tui and La, the Koi fish circling in the eternal dance—then it switched to a demon and an angel combined together, with dove wings and bat wings protruding from its back.

The creature that formed in the sand had no mouth, and it had empty eyes.

Toph gave a startled sound and backed up from it. She wasn't the only one. Katara and Sokka had backed away from the image, disturbed by what I had produced for Toph.

I, however, looked at the image fondly, knowing its true form.

"What is that?" said Toph.

"It's a demon!" Sokka said, getting up. It was actually more humorous than alarming, his reaction. "_Kill it!"_

"Calm down, Sokka," said Katara, pulling him back to his seat beside her. "It's just a picture."

However, she looked at me with a concerned gaze.

"What _is_ it, Mura?"

I gestured at the sandy images, wiping the shore clean.

"That was Shen Si Ling," I said. I heard my voice as I had said the spirit's name. It was like a loving caress. I could understand why it could disturb anybody. "The Mind spirit," I specified when Hakoda looked at me weird.

"She's absolutely frightening," Katara commented, folding her arms across her chest. "Aang says that some of the Spirits are pretty friendly if you get on their good side. But that one…"

"Shen Si Ling is both good and bad slammed together," I explained, prodding the campfire with a stick. "She's a judge of character, and knows that justice can undo evil if it is carried out properly."

Katara's face expressed some relevant fear.

"What sort of justice?" she asked quietly.

"The kind that history frowns upon," I admitted delicately. Then I confessed. "If Aang doesn't take out the Fire Lord, Shen Si Ling wants me to do it. I have enough power in me to wipe out an entire nation, if destiny sees it fit. I could do it," I assured them.

"But taking out a whole nation seems so…wicked." Katara replied.

"It's no better than what Sozin did to Aang's people," I added to her statement.

"Will you do it?" asked Sokka curiously. I looked at him pointedly. "What? Somebody's gotta put that man in his place. The whole world would be better off without him. Don't you agree, Mura?"

"Of course," I agreed. "But defeating the Fire Lord is Aang's destiny. History won't see me taking out Fire Lord Ozai as justice."

"But you _could_ do it," Sokka said, pointing a finger in my shoulder.

"I have the power, but no," I said, albeit feeling resentful, "I couldn't do it…"

Hakoda smiled at me.

"I'm glad that you joined our side, Mura. It makes it easier to sleep at night, knowing that among the Fire Nation, we don't have to worry about facing you," he said.

The campfire crew agreed in unison.

I felt a creeping sensation in my neck all of a sudden. My discomfort didn't go unnoticed. One of the Water Tribe warriors asked me if I was all right; and I didn't reply. I glanced at Toph, who apparently knew what I was feeling.

"Who—?" I said quietly, but I was interrupted when Toph unleashed a slab of Earthbending in the general direction where I had felt my neck tingle.

The group called out in surprise as Toph's Earthbending had caught two people in a cone, emitting two frightened gasps of shock in the distance. One voice had been extremely low; the other, rather high.

All of us ran to where we had the voices. According to Katara and Sokka's mutual happy cries, these two people were friends of theirs.

"Pipsqueak! Duke!"

The two people that were encased in Toph's binding mounds of earth greeted Sokka and Katara cheerfully. Toph lowered them out of the rock. The bigger man was called Pipsqueak (hilaaaarious) and the younger, shorter kid was named the Duke. By the way that they greeted each other, Sokka and Katara apparently knew them well.

"Who are these people?" I asked them curiously.

"Mura," said Katara, "we met them earlier."

"Yeah," said Pipsqueak, "we're freedom fighters."

I stared at them.

"What now?" I said incredulously. "The last time that I ran into a Freedom Fighter, he attacked me."

"They're Jet's friends," Katara said, gesturing toward them, "but they split from the gang a long time ago after Sokka saved a Fire Nation town from getting destroyed."

"Oh."

I smiled at the two newcomers, who looked at me with mutual liking.

"You're awfully pretty," said Pipsqueak as he stepped toward me. "But you don't have eyes like all the others. Wait…"

He raised a club all of a sudden with two meaty hands and said loudly,

"HEY! YOU'RE FIRE NATION!"

Sokka scampered in front of me and raised his hands to block Pipsqueak from hurting me.

"Wait, Pipsqueak! She's one of us now!"

Pipsqueak looked at me for a moment. He lowered his club slowly. I smiled cheekily at him, hands on hips.

"Oh…" he considered Sokka. Then with a hard slap on my shoulder, he resolved, "OKAY!"

I fell to the ground from his O.K, face first.

"Ah!" I looked up weakly. "It's nice to be liked…"


	6. Sokka's Plan

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Six: Sokka's Plan

The invasion plan had to be downsized since we didn't have the support of the Earth Kingdom troops; and traveling in the Water Tribe ships was far too risky. While Katara and Aang rested on Appa's saddle, and Hakoda and Bato were relieved from the watch, I joined Sokka by the shore to help him keep an eye out for Fire Navy ships. I used my _Naginata _as a staff to lean on while I stood beside him.

The campfire had been put out for the night, and a beautiful moon watched over us as the crew slumbered in their tents. Sokka wore a contemplative stare as his eyes glazed in sadness and thought, watching the full moon. We said nothing for a moment, as I too soaked in the natural peace and quiet of the night. I knew that his mind had rested on Princess Yue. I believed that he thought about her every night before he went to sleep.

It was romantic, though very sad.

He stirred the both of us out of our reveries when he spoke in a soft voice, to keep the others from becoming alert, but loud enough so that I didn't have to try so hard to listen.

"We have to think up a way to go unseen by the Fire Nation," said Sokka seriously. "We can't stay hidden forever."

"With an unconscious Avatar on the team, I think you'll find that our numbers are greatly lessened compared to the Fire Navy ships, Sokka," I remarked. "Hiding is our best option if we want to survive this war. Not all of the Firebenders are stupid: some of them are pretty powerful, especially if they know your weaknesses."

"I'm not talking about meeting them head-on," said Sokka frankly. "You know how the saying goes: if you can't beat them, join them?"

I looked at him peculiarly, merely for the fact that what he had suggested was bizarre. He held up his hands to motion for me to wait until he came to his conclusion before I jumped to it first.

"You know about the Fire Nation ships, right?"

"Well, yes. Why?"

"How many people does it take to command one?"

"An entire crew: it's big enough to hide an entire troop."

"Well, when the Fire Nation ships come to Chameleon Bay, they'll be all over place, right? Instead of trying to attack them all with our Tribe boats, we could take one and use it as a cover. Since you know about the blue prints of a Navy ship, it shouldn't be too hard. And if we run into any other Fire Nation ships, you can be the one to address them since you know the officers."

"I don't know all the officers," I said. "I only know a few admirals…"

"But what are the chances that any of them would approach us?" said Sokka.

His voice was steadily becoming excited.

"I don't think many would," I said calmly.

"It's a good plan, or at least for right now. We can't let the Fire Nation know that Aang is still alive. We could use that for an element of surprise."

"Well," I suggested loosely, "why don't you haul Aang onto the Fire Nation ship, let the soldiers _see_ that he's dead, and then you've got a case."

"But he's not dead." Sokka said, gesturing toward Appa. "He's sleeping."

"Yeah, but to anybody else, he's dead."

Sokka nodded, liking the plan so far.

"But," I said abruptly, "how do you intend to hide everyone if the Water Tribe ships are still there, hm? That's sort of a big port hole in your plan."

"Well," said Sokka thoughtfully, "I already figured that one out. While the Fire Nation thinks that we're on our boats, they'll pit stop their ships. While they come onto our boats, we go onto theirs. And if you do some of your crazy power action, it shouldn't be too rough after that."

"Okay, but won't it look odd if the Fire Nation ships pass a Fire Nation convoy without Fire Nation soldiers on it?" I asked, smirking. "It's not every day that a bunch of Water Tribe warriors occupy a hull."

"So we take up the extra weaponry in the ship," said Sokka decisively.

I tapped my chin, impressed.

"Okay," I said, "so what do you intend to use to keep us off the ship, Sokka? Should we swim the entire time? I don't think Toph will like that plan."

Sokka gave me a sultry look.

"You ask a lot of questions," he said, frowning.

"It's my turn to ask the questions," I said, shrugging. I continued on a serious note, "These are questions that need to be addressed. Gotta think this all through…"

"Well, my dad's fleet carries life boats," suggested Sokka. "We could use those to hide behind our ships."

"All right," I said gently, "but how are you going to get close enough to a Fire Nation ship to attract one? Do you intend to stay here on the shore? Each ship has a helmsman; they're used as sentries. Any sentry can spot a band of life boats on the water, especially on a sunny day."

"Katara can use her Waterbending to give us some cover."

"A flood of mist on a sunny day…" I said sarcastically. "That's not strange at all."

"I don't see you coming up with ideas!" Sokka snapped at me.

He immediately calmed after he did so, crossing his arms.

"I'm just saying that these are issues that I would question if I worked with Zuko," I said tonelessly, shrugging my shoulders. "Every Fire Nation commander has asked himself a series of questions. That is how lies are seen through; and that's why prisoners don't last a long time on board."

Sokka frowned.

"Luckily," I said with a smile, "you have me."

"Well, what good are you?" he asked. Sokka immediately followed the statement with this: "I meant, what do you mean by that?"

I chuckled at his smooth recovery, entertained.

"I mean that _I_ could distract a Fire Nation ship. I could occupy one of the Water Tribe ships, and I could distract them. All their attention would be on me; the sentries would be occupied; and nobody would notice any of you in the life boats."

"How about them seeing Aang?"

"Well, I could always _tell_ the Fire Nation that Aang is dead. I mean, I was there when it happened," I resolved with a gesture. "Everyone knows by now that I'm traveling with you; and I'm a traitor to the crown. I can certainly figure out a way to get them to attack me and to get them to believe me."

"Well…" said Sokka in consideration. "That does make it a lot easier on Katara…"

I patted his shoulder.

"It's a good plan, Sokka."

"That's what I do. I'm the plan guy. And Aang and Katara are the 'cut-stuff-up-with-Waterbending' guys. Together, we're Team Avatar."

I snorted, obviously amused.

"You know, I'm actually starting to like that name."


	7. I'm Sorry

A/N: _For Knightus10_

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Seven: I'm Sorry

In order to keep me on my game, and to make sure that everything was to go to plan, I retired for the rest of the night to get some sleep. However, something was always in the back of my mind, always there. It wasn't a mystery why I wondered what happened to Zuko, or even if he was okay. Although I was hurt that he had chosen his sister's side, I understood that he wanted everything to return to normal; and by cutting me out of the picture, that was the only way. I felt that I understood only a little about what had happened in Ba Sing Se, and despite how much resentment and betrayal that I had received from Zuko, I knew that I still cared for his well-being, even if he didn't care for mine.

I did what I thought was the best way for me to find out what happened to him. So when I laid down in my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, I concentrated on his voice, and performed a psychic sweep of Ba Sing Se. Several voices swarmed in my ears, but none of them were Zuko's. So I attempted to expand the search, which took a lot more concentration and opened the door to a chance that I couldn't close the connection.

I heard Azula's voice first.

"_Why do you look so downtrodden, Zuko? You're finally coming back home; why should you look so downcast?"_

Zuko's voice retorted matter-of-factly.

"_Things will be different now. I wonder how much has changed…"_

"_You're worried about what Father will say to you, hm?"_

Zuko said nothing. Azula's voice sighed resignedly. A third voice entered the conversation.

"_It's all right, Zuko,_" said Mai. _"Stop worrying._"

I closed my eyes harder to envision them. A sudden blur threw my sight into my psychic sweep, and it was like looking into a swirling puddle of the future, except what I saw was happening in the present. I saw Zuko dressed in Fire Nation robes. His sister and Mai were dressed in similar robes as well. What attracted to me to the situation was that Mai and Zuko were standing closer than what was comfortable to me. Then my suspicion was confirmed as Mai brought Zuko close for a kiss. And my heart sank when I saw that he returned it.

Zuko and Mai walked to the hull of Azula's barge, while Azula stayed on deck, observing the nightly waters. As Zuko and Mai slipped into bed, I knew that it would be easy for them to fall asleep. My rest was not so peaceful. I concentrated on Zuko, and it was easy to break into his mind and enter his dreams.

In his dream, he was sitting beside his father on the throne in the war room. Azula and Fire Lord Ozai were emotionless as I entered the room, materializing like a ghost. Zuko was the only one who reacted to my appearance.

"Mura…" he said quietly.

He looked just like Reality Zuko, except in his dreams, he didn't have his scar. Without the scar, he and his father shared an uncanny resemblance. They both wore the Fire Nation head plates and royal robes. I looked at my own body, and I saw that I wore the Fire Nation robes as well.

In his dreams, I apparently had come back with him and joined the Fire Nation. I smiled slightly as I realized what he envisioned me wearing and approached him. His face didn't match my welcomed expression. He immediately wore a look of remorse and confusion.

Zuko rose from his royal cushion and strode toward me.

"How are you feeling, Prince Zuko?" I asked gently, merely happy to see him, despite what happened in his reality with Mai. I looked around momentarily and saw that Mai wasn't around either. Just Azula, Ozai, Zuko, and me.

I bowed to him respectively.

"Mura, you're all right." Zuko said in obvious relief. He didn't spare me a polite bow; he embraced me like an old friend; and I instantly felt his pain. "Mura, you entered my dreams again."

"I did." I admitted honestly.

"Well, if you did, you must have seen me in reality…" Zuko said; I was impressed how easily he picked that up. "Mai…"

"Mm-hm, Mai."

He knew that I realized that he had moved on from us. The sad thing about this whole situation was that I understood why he did what he did; that seemed to make it a little hard to stay mad at him. His heartfelt greeting, too, made it difficult to express my anger toward him. I merely uttered a word of relief to see that he was all right and started crying.

Zuko looked mortified to see me crying; he held me close.

"Mura, I'm so sorry for what happened."

"You hurt me," I said, crying into his shoulder. "You hurt me, Zuko."

"I had to; you wouldn't come with me."

I chuckled sadly and looked up at him, shaking my head.

"Zuko," I said tearfully, "I wanted you to be happy…"

"I'm sorry," Zuko said quietly. "I'm _so_ sorry…"

For a moment, we said nothing. Then he kissed my cheek softly and raised my chin so that I met his eyes.

"I love you," I said, wiping my eyes. "I want you to know that. You have to know that. Do…Do you still love me?"

Zuko frowned unhappily. His gaze was sad.

"Mura, you wouldn't come with me."

I smiled, but I felt my tears run down my cheeks so easily. My lips quivered. I was hurt by this, but I didn't want him to know. However, I didn't succeed with that. Zuko closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine.

Our encounter was subsided when a figure submerged from his seat on the throne. Zuko and I turned to see Fire Lord Ozai step forward. He looked enraged, and his eyes glowed with fiery orange. Zuko and I shared horrified looks as Ozai came toward us. Before I could react, Fire Lord Ozai came to me with a blazing hand of fire. A burst of flames torched my body.

The sudden shock of pain made me jolt, pulling me back to reality.

I woke with a start. My body was sweating all over. My cheeks were tear-stained, and my eyes were burning. Sokka was at my tent, and he flew open the entrance.

"Mura," he said urgently, "it's nearly morning. It's almost time for the Fire Nation ships to start arriving."

He looked at me in concern for a brief pause.

"Are you all right?"

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and sat up. I licked my dry lips and dried my cheeks.

"I'm fine, Sokka. Just a dream…" I said quietly.

He nodded, though he wasn't convinced. He disappeared from my tent, and I rose to my feet to start the day.


	8. What I Can Do

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Eight: What I Can Do

Sokka had informed the Water Tribe about the plan that he and I had come with earlier last night. When I had gotten up, they were boarding one Water Tribe ship. Katara hulled Aang onto the singled out ship; Pipsqueak and the Duke followed us. It was near dawn, and the Fire Nation ships hadn't come to support the occupation. Sokka and I stayed close to the edge of the railing to keep an eye on the horizon. I turned to him while we waited, anxious though confident that our plan would work.

Sokka gave me a nod to start our plan. Katara, Hakoda, and Bato stepped on either side of me as I looked to the two other Water Tribe ships that were emptied and unoccupied. A momentary suspense haunted the atmosphere as inhaled shakily, once more to concentrate on center field.

A few gasps echoed from the Water tribe fleet the ocean started to dip dramatically. I once more inhaled deeply and then exhaled, and I repeated the rhythmic breathing. I wasn't Bending the water beneath me, but what I was trying to do was to sink the other Water Tribe ships. I steadied my arms out in front of me; I could practically feel the wooden planks of the ships underneath my fingers. My head tingled uncomfortably. I ignored it by stretching my jaw.

"Are you going to be able to do it?" asked Toph curiously.

"I can do this," I assured her. I closed my eyes and squinted them to focus harder.

I had never sunk ships before, and definitely not two at the same time. However, my stomach turned pleasurably when I felt the forces between the ocean and my fingers start to budge. _Inhale. Exhale. _Katara uttered a gasp of fascination. I opened my eyes, and although I could see what was happening, the scenery was brightened by a light, pastel white—I knew then that my eyes were glowing from the telekinetic mastery that I was demonstrating; on the other hand, I knew that my migraines would come back once I finished.

_Inhale. Exhale. _The Water Tribe ships slowly descended into the ocean. At first, only the bottom hulls were encased; then the captain's cabin disappeared under the water. The masts were enveloped. And finally, the sails deflated and drowned under the big blue; then nothing except the mounted ship that we stood on existed. I exhaled shakily and relinquished control.

The waves that were made from the sunken ruins carried our Water Tribe vessel gently. Katara and Sokka looked at me with awe, to which I gave them a weak smile. The sudden throbbing in my head gave me the heads-up that my awesome powers had penalized me; but despite the pain, I was rather proud of myself.

We only had a few minutes to marvel at what I had done; far from us, though in sight, there were three Fire Navy ships heading in from the west and coming our way. Sokka turned to his troop.

"Come on, everybody; into the life boats!"

As they obeyed his order, Sokka turned to me.

"Once we're on the ship, do whatever has to be done in order to stop them from coming after us," he said seriously. He set a hand on my shoulder, for an appreciation of what I was about to do. I patted his squeezing fingers and signaled for him to go with the others. He left my side and went to help Katara carry Aang onto another life boat with his father and Bato. The Fire Navy ships came closer. I glanced behind me to see that the life boats were gone, off deck. The soldiers were waiting down in the ocean, out of sight, as the Fire Navy ships sailed toward the Water Tribe vessel. As I had expected, one ship pulled to the shore; the other faced me in the opposite direction.

A long metal bridge was sent flying from the Fire Navy ship and landed hard on the Water Tribe deck. It slammed down with a _thud_ as metal met wood. I stepped back to see the captain of the Fire Navy ship and his loyal soldiers fall out of the captain's cabin and walk peacefully onto the bridge.

"Well, well, well," greeted the unrecognizable Fire Nation captain, "look at what we have here."

I held out my hands as if to welcome him to my humble abode.

"Good morning, Captain." I said tonelessly.

"You're not from the Water Tribe," said the captain seriously.

"Obviously," I retorted.

"I saw what you did to the two other Water Tribe ships. What exactly are you doing, Mura? Picking fights with another country?" then the captain chuckled, "Don't you have enough enemies?"

"Never enough," I shrugged with a smile.

I raised my hand significantly; a cry from one of the soldiers made the captain turn on his heel. His fellow body guard was flung back onto his ship. He slammed hard against the floor of the metal deck; his helmet rolled off his head. The captain looked back at me, now menacingly as he realized that I was more than a casual threat. I smirked at him, triumphant, as more soldiers filed out of the Fire Navy ship and followed behind him.

"You're outnumbered, Mura," said the captain in a rough voice as he approached me.

He filed into a Firebending stance; his soldiers followed suit.

"That's true," I said sweetly, "but you're clearly outmatched."

"Why try fighting anymore, Mura? You're no longer welcome in anybody's land; and the Avatar is dead. Where is your hope?" said the captain aggressively.

"You think I'm fighting to help others now?" I chuckled, obviously lying through my teeth. "I'm fighting to preserve my own life, Captain. Who are you fighting for, huh? Your _Fire Lord?_"

The captain frowned as I mocked him.

"How did you get _your _promotion, Captain?" I teased, stepping back toward the edge of the ship; he had to follow me in order to close our distance. I knew that Sokka and his friends would be paddling toward the Fire Navy ship. I led the rest of the soldiers from the bridge; all of the Captain's men—about 20 of them—were on board with me. Nobody occupied the other hull.

The captain snarled at me.

"I will get a higher rank once I capture you, you smart mouth!"

I laughed out loud to get a rise out of him.

"_Capture me?" _I gloated. "The only way that you'll be able to get me back to the Fire Nation is in a body bag, you idiot!"

"That can be arranged!" snapped the captain.

He and his twenty other soldiers performed a synchronized Firebending move—several arcs of blazing fire flew toward me. I flicked my fingers in front of me; the fire blew from me as if it had hit an invisible wall. The captain came toward me, coming in for a close range attack. I withdrew my _Naginata_ from my belt and extended it, ducking his blow. It whipped out as I had intended; the captain withdrew a sword from a sheath at his waist. We sparred along the deck; his soldiers watched us fight. The captain swung his blade to my shoulder; I held up my _Naginata_ and blocked his blow. As he recuperated from the sudden stop; I raised my leg and kicked him hard in his stomach.

We danced around the wooden mast of the ship, blocking each other's wielding strike. Evidently, we were both talented in a physical fight. I saw him ignite a jet of fire in his palm; before I could react, he blew the torrent of flames. I pulled out of his range and landed hard on my back. The soldiers surrounded me

Ahead of me, I saw Sokka come out of the hull and he ran to the edge of the ship, waving at me, but saying nothing. I figured that was the signal.

Before I could react, the captain seized me by the neck painfully; I gasped in shock as his fingers tightened below my chin. He pulled me off my feet. A sudden pain swam through my back as he pinned me against the wooden mast. I seized his fingers around my throat to pry them off me. I opened my eyes to see his soldiers surrounding the mast behind him. They all stood in a Firebending stance. A roaring sound emitted from the group as the soldiers produced fire daggers in their hands. And the captain, who held me fast between his fingers and the mast, smiled cruelly as he produced his own fiery blade between his fingers.

"No!" I gasped, struggling in his grasp. "No!"

"Not so brave now, are you, you little _bitch?" _he hissed. "I'm about to celebrate becoming an Admiral."

"No," I gasped again in his vice-like grip. "No! He won't be pleased. You'll be killed on the spot..."

The captain considered me. His amber eyes crossed my facial expression.

"You lie."

"No," I said honestly, shaking my head with difficulty. My legs kicked as I tried to regain enough oxygen to speak. "No, I'm not. If you kill me...the Fire Lord will kill you too. They want me alive. Azula wants me alive. If you kill me, they'll kill you..."

He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Why should I take the word of a traitor like you?" he breathed in boiling anger.

I laughed weakly in his strangling grasp.

"Go ahead and do it then, Captain...See what kind of reward you'll get when you report to Fire Lord Ozai...Ha ha ha ha, go on, Captain. Do it..."

After a minute or two, the captain's fire dagger vanished to a wisp of smoke. He looked at me hesitantly. Then as he absorbed my words, he released my neck; I fell to the deck on my knees, inhaling deep, long breaths. I choked out loud, rubbing my throat as I regained a flowing airway. I staggered to my feet then looked at the captain with a small smile.

"We'll take you to the Fire Nation Capital," said the captain.

I shook my head.

"Sorry, sir; but I'm not going anywhere near the Fire Nation. At least, not today," I added.

The captain's face hardened fiercely; his soldiers followed suit as they all started to attack me with their fire daggers. I raised my hands and stopped them all, freezing them in an invisible time frame. They were aware of what happened, looking at me with moving eyes; but none of them could move.

Once more, my head surged with a familiar pain. I concentrated on the extremities of all 20 soldiers, ceasing movement except for the heart's beat, the lungs' breath, and the eye movement. Those who had started to attack while jumping into the air were frozen off the mass, merely hovering like fairies. My powers defied the laws of gravity. And as I kept them in a freeze, I concentrated harder on their minds.

In my own head, I heard their thoughts, and I read their memory lines. Then as I heard their voices in my head, my own voice—and my own thoughts—invaded their minds.

_Forget what you've seen. Forget my face. Forget what has happened today. Forget...this._

As I wiped their memories of their encounter with me, the soldiers' faces cascaded into blank and vacant expressions. The captain's eyes, whose I could see closest, glazed over as he heard my voice in his head.

_Forget what you've seen. Forget my face. Forget what has happened. Forget...this._

I closed my eyes to see white, bright, glowing strings fly from the corners of a dark space as their memories left their own minds and were flying to me. I kept them safe inside.

I released them from my hold. The soldiers in mid air fell to the ground, their attacks interrupted. The captain looked at me, confused and dumbfounded. I smirked at him. Then I performed the same movements as I did with the two other Water Tribe ships. I sunk it with ease. The Fire Nation crew uttered cries of bewilderment and puzzlement as the vessel went down with ease. Nobody could figure out that I was the one who was doing it. The captain and his mates flew into a massive hysteria as their ship went down with no obvious damage to the hull. I swam away from them as the soldiers flailed in the water, trying to understand what the hell had happened.

The Fire Navy ship that my friends occupied had moved a good few feet from the sunken ruins of the Water Tribe fleet. I swam toward it expectantly. Sokka and Katara looked overboard and spotted me in the ocean. Katara motioned with a wave of her hand. To my astonished delight, the ocean pulled and pushed me up like a helping hand. As I rode the rising current, I cried out in sheer joy as Sokka grabbed me from the water's edge and seized me. Katara let the water fall back several feet below the hull of the Fire Navy ship. Sokka pulled me over the railing. Hakoda walked toward me; he threw a blanket over my shoulders.

The Water Tribe, Pipsqueak, the Duke, and Toph came to me, expressing several notes of gratitude. Sokka joined the congratulations and handed me a bowl of noodles.

"_That_," he said, pointing back in the direction of Chameleon Bay, "has to be some of the greatest things that I've ever seen!"

I rubbed my temples with two fingers on each side to massage a splitting headache.

"Yeah," I said weakly. "It was great, but now my head is _killing_ me."

Katara squatted down beside me.

"Here, let me try something."

She drew water from her skin pouch from over her shoulder; the water covered her brown fingers like a loose, liquid glove. Katara placed her hands over my ears; and although the water touched my hair and face, I felt no wetness, but just a cold soothing. My headache strengthened in pain, but just as it had grew—it was gone in minutes. My relief was apparent on my face, for Katara withdrew her fingers from my ears and smiled in obvious pride.

"Thanks," I sighed.

"I think," said Katara with an appreciative look, "that _we_ should be the ones thanking you."

The others agreed with her. Toph sat down beside me.

"You really have a gift, Mura," she said, smiling. "That's pretty bad ass."

Then out of nowhere, she punched me hard in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"It's a compliment," Toph said routinely. "It's how I show affection."

"Oh." I said, rubbing my arm. Then I punched her back.

She fell to the deck on her side. Sokka gave a surprised cry,

"You just punched a blind girl!"

However, Toph started laughing as she sat up.

"You know what, Mura," said Toph, "you don't really care who challenges you; I like that about you. I think you and I will get along just fine."

I shared her smile. She punched me back in the same spot on my shoulder. I laughed painfully, rolling on the deck, clutching my arm.


	9. No Place Left to Hide

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Nine: No Place Left to Hide

As I had anticipated, the Chameleon Bay was swarming with Fire Navy ships in a matter of hours. Thankfully, we were out of the perimeter of being sighted by sentry guards on the other vessels; we sailed west toward the Serpent's Pass, heading west. We knew that we had to get Aang out of reach from the Fire Nation, so setting up camp anywhere along the Earth Kingdom shore or any place that hosted Fire Nation friendly ports weren't safe. The only safe haven that we had was aboard the commandeered ship.

Because our mobile security blanket looked like the Fire Nation's alliance, we didn't have to bother with interference unless a vessel approached us at close range; and if that was the case, Sokka and his family would stay hidden while I handled the approaching soldiers. There was only one occurrence, and the situation was handled delicately. I had dawned a commander's uniform like I had done when I worked with Zuko. The captain that had spoken to me apparently bought my lie about us transferring cargo from the eastern fleet on Chameleon Bay to the occupation at Crescent Island (in case the Avatar would go there to speak to Roku). Because my report was so detailed, the captain bought my lie, and he sailed away with his men.

The Avatar was still asleep when Katara bandaged his wounds and healed him the best that she could. I was there when she wrapped his foot in a white gauze, securing his wounds from infection. Katara wore a defeated expression when she finished her healing session with Aang. I leaned against the doorway, merely supervising with curiosity. She glanced over her shoulder quickly then lowered her voice to a sad breath,

"I don't understand it. I should be able to heal him."

"He was dead when you brought him back," I consoled her. I pushed away from the door and stood beside her. Her hands loosely fidgeted with her long braid down her back. Katara's eyes were so mellow and disappointed. "You did all you could. He's alive, and that's more than what any of us could have done," I assured her, sitting down on Aang's bed. "You have a remarkable gift, Katara. Waterbending is nature's healing."

Katara merely frowned.

"I should be able to do more, though," she retorted unhappily. "I should have been able to protect him, back in Ba Sing Se."

"None of this is your fault," I told her.

My voice strengthened incredibly so; Katara looked up at me when she heard my stern tone; I softened it with a tender gaze. I breathed.

"Katara, what happened in Ba Sing Se—it was just an accident. Aang didn't master the Avatar State; and when he went into it, he was killed. _You _brought him back to us, Katara. You saved him. And," I added, taking her hand gratefully, "if it weren't for you, I would have been imprisoned like Iroh. _You_ saved us, Katara. What more could you possibly want in order to prove how powerful you are?"

She considered me with a smile.

"I suppose you are right..." she said quietly.

"I am," I confirmed. "If anybody is to blame about what happened in Ba Sing Se, it is me."

Katara's eyes widened in dismay and disagreement.

"No, you—"

"_I_," I interrupted her with a raised palm, "knew that Zuko would stop at nothing in order to get his place at his father's side. I should have stopped him long ago. Katara, I knew that he wanted his throne more than anything. I did nothing but watch; and when I decided to act, it was too late. However," I sighed reminiscently, "something tells me that not everything is as what it seems..."

I remembered my dream and Zuko's dreams. I remembered what he told me, that he was sorry. I looked back at Katara, who gazed at me misty-eyed, as if she had watched me go into a trance.

"Sorry," I apologized with a nervous chuckle, "I sometimes space out."

"Oh," said Katara, smiling.

I sighed resignedly.

"Well, we should go on deck and keep an eye out for Fire Nation ships—just in case. He'll be fine," I added; Katara glanced at the Avatar warily. Then she nodded in response and followed me out the door.


	10. The Avatar Returns

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Ten: The Avatar Returns

Katara and I had a heartfelt moment, and I thought that I had made her feel better about Aang. It was plain as day that she felt something for the Avatar; and I knew that he felt something for her too. It wasn't as if they showed signs of fondness so openly like a couple, but I am an empath, and I could tell that they felt more than just friendship between them. Every night, Katara was by Aang's side, watching him sleep. She didn't get some rest until someone else was in the room with the Avatar.

I noticed that during our stay aboard the Fire Nation vessel, Katara showed obvious resentment toward her father, Chief Hakoda. Although I could pick up the tension between she and her dad, I wondered why she felt so venomous. The family had been reunited; and I thought that was a happy thing. However, Katara snapped at Hakoda a few times in mid-conversation. Hakoda was picking up her anger, though he didn't know how to confront her about it.

Sokka and Hakoda bent over several maps on a low table. While they studied the lay out, I brewed hot tea in a pot beside them. Father and Son were gazing at the maps in intense concentration, neither speaking. I handed them two cups of Jasmine tea, to which they took with a word of thanks. As I started to sip from my own, Sokka looked up at me expectantly.

"You studied maps before, haven't you?"

There was a questioning affliction in his voice, which I knew was going to lead to his point. I nodded once, wrapping my hands around the cup. He shifted his weight and scooted to sit beside me. On the table, he pointed to several landmarks on the world map in front of me; all points of interest were located in the Fire Nation. As he gave me a curious look, I placed my cup away from me and took the map, looking at with interest.

"The Gates of Azulon," I told him, "is guarded by many sentries. Even if we get through their gates, we'll still be facing quite a few Firebenders. They are trained in combat and are ready to attack within a second's notice. They're not like the Firebenders that you've fought before. They won't hesitate to kill you." I clicked my tongue. "It's not out of the loyalty to their Fire Lord. It's more like self-preservation. If Ozai ever learned that an invasion broke through the Gates, it would be that his guards didn't try hard enough."

I rolled my eyes in disgust.

Sokka pointed to the Fire Nation Capital: aka, Zuko's home.

"Within the volcano," I informed Sokka, "resides the Fire Nation noblemen. The commoners are lived outside the volcano, by the tower. The commoners will fight, and they'll fight hard. The noblemen will, too, but they're not used to military antics. They'll run, if it means protecting the materials that they hold dear."

"But aren't most of the noblemen retired veterans?" asked Sokka curiously.

He had asked this when I had started to drink my tea; and in result, I snorted into my cup, laughing, albeit with a vindictive affliction. Sokka looked at me strangely when I did this, and I wiped my mouth, shaking my head.

"The retired veterans don't live their pension in the Fire Nation Capital," I said, choking. "They spend the rest of the lives on Ember Island."

"That doesn't sound so peaceful," said Hakoda.

"It's a vacation spot," I told the chief calmly. "Soldiers and noble families take their children to Ember Island to get away from the militaristic way of life. I used to go there as a child," I smiled in fond memory. "Those were the days..." I sighed, pulling myself out of my reverie. "If everything goes as planned, it shouldn't be a problem taking the Fire Nation down, especially if this solar eclipse is happening that same day."

"Will that somehow affect you, though?"

Katara's voice interceded our conversation as she came up from the side of the boat. Apparently, she had caught some of what I was saying. I looked at her, just a tad confused; but then I understood where she was coming from. While I turned to Katara, Sokka walked away in order to retrieve another map of interest.

"Like what happened back in the Water City?" continued Katara.

"I didn't have problems at the North Pole during the lunar eclipse," I told Katara matter-of-factually. "It was when Zhao took the Moon Spirit that made me flip. The solar eclipse will be the same thing," I shrugged carelessly. "It's like a change of weather."

A following noise made the crew stop talking. I heard a cry of surprise and then a _thud_ as someone landed hard on the deck. A staff slid toward me. I looked up to see Aang. He had apparently understood that he was on a Fire Navy ship; and he was under the impression that he had been captured. However, he looked so dazed and confused as he rose to his feet hesitantly, staring at the lot of us, dressed in Fire Nation disguises.

He met my eyes with even more puzzlement, though it seemed that he was too stunned to say much of anything.

Toph and Katara rushed toward him excitedly. Behind Aang, the Duke and Pipsqueak emerged from below deck; they were the first to realize that Aang was back to the physical world. Katara flung her arms around Aang's neck ecstatically,

"Aang, you're awake!"

"Are you sure?" asked Aang hoarsely. He rubbed his eyes. "I feel like I'm dreaming."

"You're not dreaming," assured Katara, beaming. "You're finally awake!"

Katara released him. Sokka, who was dressed as a Fire Nation soldier, helmet and all, gave Aang a quick hug.

"Aang, good to see you back with the living, buddy."

Aang stared at Sokka, plaintively shocked.

"S..Sokka?"

"Uh-oh!" Toph quickly said, "somebody catch him, he's gonna—"

Aang rotated as he fainted. Katara reached out to catch him, but he plummeted to the deck with a _thud. _I squatted down beside Aang and placed my hands along his temple. I intended to bring him back to consciousness, considering the fact that he only passed out a few seconds ago. However, as I searched his mind for a beating brain wave, I found somebody else's. I gasped as it felt like I was thrown into a pool of cold water—and I realized as voices started to speak that I had happened upon another psychic sweep.

Apparently, I hadn't mastered it; and I wasn't able to close the door permanently.

I heard Mai and Zuko in my head...

Mai's voice was gentle and soft,

"_Aren't you cold?"_

"_I've got a lot in my mind," _answered Zuko's voice, timid and complacent. "_It's been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed."_

"_I just asked if you were cold; I didn't ask for your whole life story. Stop worrying."_

I was pulled back out of the swimming voice pool when Aang's voice interrupted the line of conversation. He said my name. I opened my eyes to see that I was still holding Aang's head between my hands. Moments later, he opened his eyes as well. It seemed like I was the only one who knew what I had done; for Aang simply gave me a sweet smile as I helped him sit up. With my cheeks flushed and burning, I scooted away from him, thinking about what I had just heard from Mai and Zuko.

Zuko was heading back to his home.

I motioned with a hand behind me. Aang looked in slight amusement as a red blanket floated like a ghost in the air toward him. He looked at it with a raised eyebrow as it wrapped around his shoulders consolingly. Hakoda handed him a bowl of noodles. I left Katara and Aang alone for privacy, and retired to my bedroom.

I sighed shakily. Then I sat down on my bed, crossed my legs in the lotus position, and concentrated again.

_Let me see what's happening in the Fire Nation...Let—_

I felt the familiar cold sensation that fell over me and two voices reverberated in my mind. A scene shifted from a blurry red and yellow; the Fire Nation capital city and the harbor. Then two older women spoke loudly atop of their seats on a very high balcony—it oversaw a royal plaza, facing a large crowd of Fire Nation citizens. Behind them, a large archway crackled with flames.

"_Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's capital. In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother, Zuko; and together, they faced the Avatar. And the Avatar fell; and the Earth Kingdom fell. Azula's agents quickly overtook the entire city. They went to Ba Sing Se's Great Wall and brought them down!_

"_The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the wall and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory! Now the heroes have returned home! Your princess, Azula!"_

Azula, wearing her Fire Nation daytime attire, approached the balcony, smirking as the crowd cheered for her.

"_And after three long years, your princes has returned. Zuko!"_

Zuko approached the balcony beside his sister; he wore a sullen gaze on his face as he looked over the crowd. He was a different sight compared to the last that I had seen of him. And he looked like his father the most.

"Mura."

I opened my eyes to see Hakoda standing at the doorway.

Around my room, the floating objects in the air crashed to the floor. Hakoda flinched as the vases shattered in several pieces. Cushions from the couch and the office chair fell over the broken glass. Hakoda looked at me interrogatively; he wore a look of fascination and distant fright. I smiled calmly at him. This had been the first time that he had seen me meditating.

"Things float in the air when I think," I excused the situation.

"Uh-huh...Well, Aang is awake again. Sokka's going to tell him what happened. I figured that you would like to be a part of this," said Hakoda, smiling.

"Oh, yeah." I joined him. He and I left the compartment and went on deck.

I sat down beside Aang, who once more gave me a gentle smile. I returned it wordlessly. Sokka sat down atop a crate; he was surrounded by the rest of his friends and his family.

"After what happened in Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety," explained Sokka. "Mura joined us when Zuko and his sister turned on her, and she helped us escape. We flew to Chameleon Bay, where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth King decided that he wanted to travel the world in disguise, and set off alone with his pet bear. He gave Mura the position as the new ruler of Ba Sing Se, whenever the kingdom was retaken."

Aang looked at me with widened eyes,

"You're the new king?" he said in awe. "That's _amazing!"_

I smiled modestly.

Sokka continued,

"Soon, the bay was overrun with Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise. Since then, we've been traveling west. We crossed through the Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us. And whenever one approached our deck, Mura took care of it."

Aang nodded his head to absorb the news.

"So, what now?" asked Aang.

"We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan," Hakoda said.

"It's _Sokka's_ invasion plan," noted Katara, annoyed.

"Yes," remarked Hakoda uncomfortably, "Sokka's plan. We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable."

"So we're planning a smaller invasion," said Sokka, taking the lead. "Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and the Duke. Mura knows the layout of the Fire Nation capital, so it'll be easier to navigate through the barriers once we get there. And the best part is that the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage. We have a secret," he whispered. "You."

"Me?"

"Yep, the whole world thinks that you're dead." Sokka stood up and raised his arms triumphantly. "_Isn't that great?"_

Shock plastered Aang's face; he was mortified by this.

Aang rose to his feet and started pacing.

"The whole world thinks that I'm dead? _How_ is that good news? That's _terrible!"_

"No," Sokka retorted. "It's great. It means that the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better, they won't expect you on the Day of Black Sun."

"No," argued Aang, shaking his head, "no, no, no, no, no...You have no idea! This is so messed up!"

The horn of another ship blared. Sokka looked over my shoulder; I turned to see that another Fire Nation ship was approaching up ahead. Aang took up his glider staff, opened its wings, and bore through the flinching pain.

"I'll handle this," he said defiantly. "The Avatar is back!"

Katara approached him with raised hands,

"Aang, wait. Remember, they don't know that we're not Fire Nation..."

I watched Aang reluctantly fold his glider. Hakoda and Bato turned to me as he took up their helmets.

"Everyone, just stay calm," said Hakoda. "Bato, Mura, and I will take care of this."

"Mm," I uttered uncomfortably, "perhaps I should just do this."

"Why?" asked Hakoda curiously. "Our facade worked the last time."

I shook my head.

"I'd feel much better if I did this alone. I _was_ a commander before," I said persuasively. Katara grabbed her father's arm.

"Maybe you should do what she says, Dad. After all, she's the only one who _is_ Fire Nation."

Pipsqueak lifted up the Duke, who was wrapped in a large piece of tarp. He threw Duke over Appa, who lay quietly in the cargo pit. The tarp unraveled and covered the flying bison. Mom jumped into the pit with Appa. Aang and Toph crouched inside the stairway, leading below the deck. Katara and Sokka joined them.

Hakoda and Bato stood beside me as the rival ship paralleled with ours. A bridge lowered across the gap between the two. A Fire Nation officer crossed to our ship, flanked by two soldiers. Bato and Hakoda glanced at me from either side. Hakoda bowed to the officer. I did as well.

"Commander," said the officer, approaching me, "why are you off course?"

"We came from Chameleon Bay," I explained calmly. "We were separated from the fleet; the waters pulled us away during a storm."

"There wasn't any storm," said the officer, stroking his beard.

"Well, we came from two different directions. Chameleon Bay was hit with a freak accident; I ordered the other ships to seek shelter. There was a vigilante attack," I continued when the officer narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. "Some monster took out a ship."

"Well, it's a good thing that you got away safely," said the officer. "Did the captain make it out okay? Captain Lee has always been a bit confrontational when it comes to harsh weather."

"I don't think that," I said slyly, "any of them would...remember what happened."

"That's too bad."

"Isn't it, though," I muttered.

"Well, Commander, all western fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation. Why were you heading the other direction?"

"We're from the Eastern Fleet."

I looked to see that Hakoda had answered. The Fire Nation officer looked at him strangely.

"You have your other soldiers answering for you?" he asked me mockingly.

Hakoda and I met each others' gazes sternly.

"New recruit," I excused Hakoda's reason for speaking out of turn.

"We have orders," continued Hakoda, "to deliver some cargo."

"Ah," said the officer thoughtfully. "The Eastern Fleet. Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know that he was sending one of his ships our way."

Bato spoke next, out of turn,

"I am sure that Admiral Chan meant no disrespect, sir."

I bit my cheek. The officer observed us three in suspicion.

"I mean," said the officer, "how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?"

"Next time," Hakoda answered, "we'll send two hawks to be sure that you get the message."

The officer bowed to us and left our ship. I turned to Hakoda and Bato and smacked their arms deliberately. They uttered surprised cries and looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"_What's wrong with you two!?"_ I demanded. "I told you that I was going to handle it!"

"They accepted our explanation," said Bato, rubbing his arm.

"Fire Nation soldiers do not speak out of turn when a higher-ranked officer is in their command." I snapped. _"I _was the higher-ranked officer. And I don't even _know_ an Admiral Chan—he's a retired veteran."

I smacked Bato.

"_He's at Ember Island."_ I hissed as I did so.

Then Toph climbed out of the stairway and pointed to the officer in question,

"_They know!"_

Toph thrust her hand towards the floor. She grabbed the metal and twisted it. Toph bended a fissure in the metal that led to the bridge; it buckled, and it sent the officer and the soldiers falling into the water below, yelling in fear. Katara bended a small mountain of water between the ships; she turned in a circle and threw her arms forward—the water slammed into the side of the other ship, knocking it back several yards. I scrambled forward to help the cause, but I was knocked off my foot, when I heard voices come into my mind. The opened psychic door interrupted my assistance, as I heard Zuko and Azula speak to each other...

"_You seem so downcast," _Azula said. "_Has Mai gotten to you already? Though, actually, Mai has been in a strangely good mood lately."_

"_I haven't seen Dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years, since I was banished."_

"_So what?"_

"_So, I didn't capture the Avatar."_

"_Who cares? The Avatar's dead. Unless you think that he had somehow miraculously survived."_

"_No. There's no way that he could've survived."_

"_Well, then I'm sure that you have nothing to worry about."_

"Mura, knock out of it!"

Sokka was shaking my shoulders as I returned back to the moment. I shook my head and met his eyes. When he saw that I was out of my trance, he grabbed my hand and led me out to the foredeck for battle. Sokka retreated into the hall that led out to the bridge, hidden.

A trebuchet was fired, and a rock ignited in oil flew toward us. Toph took a large boulder from a loaded pile of rock and launched it at the fireball; the flaming boulder and the stone collided in the air and exploded. The explosion rocked the ship. The enemy ship targeted a ballista at us; a chained, metal projectile shot into the water like a torpedo. It punctured the hull of our stolen ship. Katara and I went to the railing and looked down to see that the damage. Katara exhaled and pushed her palms down—freezing mist climbed out of her mouth and froze the breach. A fireball shot toward us, aiming for Katara—I punched the air—

There were cries from the enemy ship as the flaming boulder took a detour and flew back to them in rebound. It struck home. I whooped triumphantly. My thrill was quickly expunged with a startled cry when a fireball fired from the enemy ship and smacked hard against the back end of the deck. Sokka and I flew off balance and hit each other in the head, smacking together like two burlap backs. We were caught in a wave of smoke. Toph and Katara ran toward us, helping Sokka and I to our feet.

"How we doing?" asked Toph.

"Things couldn't get much worse."

Then Karma gave its cue to turn his words against us; a giant serpent burst through the water's surface and rose above the ship, towering over us and screeched loudly. We all looked up at it, frightened. The serpent reared its sea-green head in my direction. I stared at its yellow eyes just momentarily. Sokka and Katara looked at me with wide-eyed expressions—I signaled for everyone on deck to stay still. The serpent uttered a disparaging tone—its moment of consideration proved to be helpful, for a strike from the enemy's catapult hit the serpent in its back.

The serpent cried out in pain then it turned angrily to the enemy ship. It dove under the water and wrapped its body around the enemy ship, crying out angrily. Sokka was shocked to see that it switched targets. He looked at me gratefully and embraced me around the neck tightly,

"_I'm so glad that we added you to the group!"_

I choked a retort.

We sailed away from the enemy ship, out of hind sight. Within an hour, we reached the Merchant's Pier, where the last time that I was here, Zuko and I had ran into the pirates. The pier was occupied by the Fire Nation, but considering the fact that we looked like Fire Nation ourselves—as far as the soldier's uniforms were concerned—then it was not a bad idea to port. I took my position at the helm and drew the ship into the harbor. Hakoda weighed the anchor, and finally we could leave the ship. Katara, Sokka, and Toph went down below deck to retrieve Aang.

Minutes later, The three emerged from the living quarters of the ship. Sokka shook his head at me as he led Toph off the boat. Katara's expression matched Sokka's.

"He's upset," said Katara.

"I could understand why," I told her in reply. "He thinks that he's failed us all."

"But he's alive," retorted Katara.

"By _your_ hand, not by his," I explained gently. "He wants to help the world, but the only way that he thinks that he'll do it is on his own. It's sort of a hero syndrome, I think. Save the world by himself and not risk anybody's safety..." I said fondly.

"How do you know about that?" asked Katara quietly.

"I had my own experiences," I muttered, thinking about Zuko.

"Well, Sokka, Toph, and I are going to get some food. Did you want to come?"

"Nah," I declined politely. "I'm good. I'll be here when you get back."

She nodded understandably then left to join her brother and Toph. They returned an hour later with supplies. Katara went below deck to give some to Aang. I had retired to my bedroom, where I sat down on my cot once more.

I resumed my meditating. I felt obsessed with being able to do a psychic sweep; but the more that I pried into Zuko's thoughts and conversations, the closer that I felt to him. And that was what I wanted the entire time. So I concentrated; and I concentrated hard. I knew that doing this would make it harder to control when I would hear voices, but I didn't care.

And when I did see what Zuko was doing, it frightened me. Zuko fell to his knees and bowed before an illuminated silhouette of his father. Fire Lord Ozai's words were gut-wrenching calm, and it scared me to hear him so complacent.

"_You have been away for a long time. I see the weight of your travels has changed you. You have redeemed yourself, my son."_

Ozai rose to his feet and stepped toward his son. He climbed out of the glowing silhouette. His face was remarkably uncanny to Zuko's in resemblance. He wasn't a God, nor a dark spirit. When he climbed out of the fire that surrounded his throne, he looked like a man of flesh and blood—not at all as frightening as he was before.

"_Welcome home."_

Ozai began to pace his son.

"_I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing, and captured the traitor. I am proud that despite you recruited Mura Lynn"—_At the mention of my name, Zuko's eyes looked pained for a moment—"_and she tried to convince you that I was cruel, you pushed her away, and you took her down. And I am proudest of all of your most _legendary_ accomplishment. You slayed the Avatar."_

Zuko's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"_What did you hear?"_

"_Azula told me everything. She said that she was amazed and impressed with your power and ferocity at the moment of truth."_

"Mura."

I was pulled out of my meditation at the sound of Katara's heart-broken cry. Around me, the floating objects dropped to the floor again. Katara's eyes were glazed, and her cheeks were wet with tears. I slid off the bed as she frowned sadly.

"He's gone," said Katara.

"What?"

"Aang," said Katara tearfully. "He left."

"Who knows?" I asked, standing erect.

"We have to find him," Katara said abruptly, interrupting my line of questioning. "You have to help us track him down. Dad said that we could meet up with them at the rendezvous point; we need to find Aang."

"Okay," I said without hesitation.

She took my hand and led out to the deck.

Hakoda and Bato bade me goodbye, and I mounted Appa's saddle. Sokka, Toph, and Katara followed suit. I closed my eyes.

_Concentrate. Find him. Aang. Find him..._

Then I heard Aang's voice, disheartened and disappointed...

"_I'm not gonna make it...I failed."_

I took Appa's reins.

"Yip, yip!"

We flew into the approaching storm.

It actually didn't take that long to find the Avatar. We found him on the Crescent Moon Isle. Aang was lying unconscious on the rocky shore. Dawn approached us when we landed Appa beside him. Momo landed on Aang's chest and licked his cheek, awakening him. Aang sat up, rubbing his head. Katara ran toward him and dropped to her knees, and embraced him.

"You're OK!"

Toph, Sokka, Momo, and Appa all gathered around and formed a group hug. Sokka took my shirt and pulled me forward Katara and Sokka squeezed me tightly into the family embrace. After a minute, Aang broke away.

"I have so much to do," he muttered.

"I know, but you'll have our help," Katara backed him up.

"You didn't think that you could get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?" Toph joked, smiling.

"What about the invasion?"

"We'll join up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse." Sokka replied.

"Hey, what's..." Toph grabbed a broken and burnt glider from out of the water behind her. "Oh, it's your glider..."

"That's okay," said Aang. He took it from Toph. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that nobody knows that I'm alive."

Aang turned to the active volcano; he climbed the mountain. When he came back down, his glider was alight with flames, burning the rest of what Aang had left from the monks.


	11. You Mean Not Like You

The Highest Bidder III

Chapter Eleven: You Mean "Not Like You"

From Crescent Moon Isle, Appa carried us to the Fire Nation outer islands. Because I was more versed in the Fire Nation territory, Aang asked me which island would be safer to hide; I pointed to one that was not too far from Crescent Moon Isle. He didn't hesitate to take my opinion. Sokka handled the reins as we drifted from the sky. As we did so, Katara and Aang Waterbended a cloud formation to hide his flying bison. Our mysterious cloud scuttled rapidly over the water.

"_I think I see a gave below!"_ Aang emanated.

Sokka snapped at him,

"_Shhh, keep quiet!"_

As we neared the sandy shore, the Waterbenders dispersed the cloud. Appa landed smoothly, uttering a satisfied groan. Aang Airbended himself off his bison's shoulders. Toph, Katara, and Sokka slid down Appa's tail. I jumped out of the saddle and landed ungracefully on the sand.

"Ow!" I uttered, hitting the ground.

"I figured that you would have landed that perfectly," said Aang, helping me to my feet.

"I hadn't stood in a long time. My legs fell asleep." I said, taking his hand.

Sokka looked around with a furtive reconnaissance.

"Great job with the cloud camo; but next time, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud who knows how to keep its mouth shut."

"Oh, yeah," said Toph sarcastically, "we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in."

The birds in question were actually one of the Fire Nation's common parakeets; five were perched on a rock just behind Sokka. He glanced at them and turned to us.

"We're in enemy territory," said Sokka. He pointed to the aviary behind him. "Those are enemy birds."

As he had said the last, one of them hopped down onto his head and squawked plaintively. Sokka looked unamused; the others laughed. We started toward the cake. Sokka lurked behind me, observing the land with a suspicious eye. All of a sudden, he leaped over Toph, Katara, Aang, and me to ward off some (entirely imaginary) threat. He dashed into the cave, and we followed him inside.

"Sokka," I said factually, "if there were any enemies around, don't you think that I would be able to sense it?"

"Your creepy tingling doesn't really help us right now," said Sokka. At the description of my powers, I rose an eyebrow curiously. He continued to explain, "You think that we're enemies if you closed your eyes. You're paranoid all the time."

"You're accusing birds," I retorted, folding my arms. "I'm wondering who the paranoid one is."

"Well, this cave is clear, that's all we need to know," said Sokka. "This is it. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins: hiding in cave after cave...after cave...after cave..."

His head dropped further to his chest with each repetition of the word. I chuckled. Katara stepped toward her brother,

"We don't need to become cave people. What we need is some new clothes."

"Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out. If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."

"Plus," added Toph, "they have _real_ food out there. Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?"

Toph raised a fist and punched the cave wall; several white hoppers uttered loud cricket noises; Momo scampered across the cavern floor and caught one between his furry paws. He started chowing down. Aang and Sokka gave a revolted look.

"Looks like we got out voted, sport," Sokka said to Momo. He then smiled at Aang. "Let's get some new clothes."

I gestured to them,

"Then follow me, if you will."

I led them to a nearby town house. On this island, the houses in the Fire Nation were separated by order and class. Those who lived on the outskirts of the Fire Nation cities were middle-class, but they bore many children. The merchants who worked the booths in town, who sold meats or decorative antiques, were the people who lived in houses a few miles from civilization. The houses, though, were by no means terrible. The middle-class houses looked like they would be lived in by some of the richest land owners. When I explained this to Aang, he looked at me strangely.

"So, since your dad was a merchant, did he live in this kind of house?"

We were hiding behind a huge rock, a few good feet from our score. The house in question was made with brick and mortar, had several hanging lines for laundry, a well, and many cattle. I observed it and turned to Aang.

"No, mine was much bigger. Dad was a weapons specialist and salesman," I said fondly, smiling. "He made his profit overseas, but when he came home, he had a good house within the Fire Nation capital. The 'poor' houses," I continued, "in the Fire Nation capital are the ones you come into contact with before you head inside the volcano. The closer you get to the Royal family, the richer or more well-known you are."

"But I thought you said that your mom was in poverty," said Katara, looking on emphatically.

"After Dad was imprisoned, _then_ she was in poverty," I explained quietly. "In the Fire Nation, money gets you everything you want. Money and how dangerous you can be," I added sadly. I shook my head of any more thoughts of that, and turned to face the house.

"This house has many children," I said. "They won't notice a few missing articles of clothing."

Aang tapped his fingers on the rock.

"I don't know about this. These clothes belong to somebody."

Katara climbed over the rock,

"_I call the silk robe!"_

She ran to her prize and snatched it from the hanging lines.

Aang watched her go.

"But if it's essential to our survival...then I call the suit!"

Plunder ensued. The laundry's lone attendant was in the doorway. His nap was interrupted by Katara's shout. He awoke with a start to see that children were snatched his family's attire. Toph and Sokka ran toward the hanging lines to snatch their chosen features.

"Hey!"

I appeared in front of him, to his shock. Katara watched me stand in front of the attendant; he looked at me strangely as I placed my hand on his head and exhaled slowly.

_Forget my face. Forget what you have seen. Forget this._

The familiar glaze coated over his golden iris; drool climbed out of his mouth. I willed into his mind and grabbed his trace of memory of this scene. He smiled dopely as he gazed into my eyes.

"Ah...Yer so pretty..."

I smiled, satisfied, and stepped away from him. I gathered my choice of wear and retreated to the cave where the others were. They were dressed in their Fire Nation disguises; each wore an individual look. And all of them pulled it off quite nicely. I hid behind a bush to dress. When I came out, Aang was admiring Katara's new look with blushing cheeks. Katara untied her mother's necklace and held it in her hand sadly. She turned to me.

"Maybe you should do something with your hair," she advised gently. "It was different when we were on the ship, but people might actually recognize you now since you're in Fire Nation clothes."

"I can't dye it, if that's what you mean," I said, holding out my LONG braid in my hand.

"No, no, I mean cut it," said Katara, approaching me.

"Well, I'm not exactly the greatest hair stylist," I retorted.

"Let me do it," said Aang, approaching from behind.

I snorted in amusement and looked at him. He wore a smile that initiated a serious offer, though a happy notion that he really wanted to do it. Realizing that he was sincere about it, I shrugged and beckoned.

"All right, Monk," I willed sweetly, "do your thing."

"Sokka, let me borrow your boomerang," suggested Aang.

I shared an expression of shock with Sokka, who stared at the Avatar in obvious astonishment. Toph laughed loudly. Aang gestured for Sokka to trust him; so Sokka complied. I sat down on the sandy shore, quite intrigued. I never knew Monks to be specialized in beauty care.

However, Aang took the pro-offered boomerang from Sokka's hand. He unraveled my long braid, to which he commented,

"Jeez, you could make this a rope!"

Within two seconds, I felt Aang slash the boomerang's sharp edge across my shoulders. I gasped at the sound of it, and turned in slight horror. Aang held several feet of my blonde hair in his hands. He sheepishly looked at me. I felt my head. To my surprise, he had cut it so short that it didn't even reach the nape of my neck. Katara's hands had went to her mouth, stunned, as I rose to my feet and turned to look down at the ground.

Aang was right. It was more than several feet long. I went to the water's edge to see what had happened. To my delight, my appearance was actually better than I thought it was. I ran toward Aang and embraced him.

"You did a lovely job!"

Aang grinned broadly.

"Thanks."

"Great," Sokka muttered. "Now we know that Aang can make fancy jewelry _and_ cut girls' hair."

Katara smacked his arm.

"You're just jealous because your hair doesn't look as great as hers."

I led the group to the bazaar of a nearby town; Katara, Toph, and Sokka purchased fire-themed neck ware. We stepped into an alley, where we regrouped before going into public. Katara wrapped a charming necklace; Toph placed a new headband on her head; and Sokka placed a topknot clasp into his hair. Aang took Momo from his shoulder and smoothed down his ears. He tucked him beneath his coat.

"I used to visit my friend, Kuzon here a hundred years ago." Aang said. "So everyone just follow my lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the Fire Nation—'Stay flamin'!"

Aang sauntered out from the shadows. Sokka looked at me skeptically; I shook my head. We followed Aang out into the open. A man leaned against the outside of a building, eating a meat-on-a-stick. Aang waved to him as we walked by.

"Greetings, my good Hotman!"

The Fire Nation citizen looked at him in surprise.

"Oh...Hi...I guess."

Aang's lingo was a little out of date: like 100 years. I smiled cheerfully at the Fire Nation citizen to show that more than out of us out of the group was peppy. He looked at me as strangely as he did with Aang, though he raised an eyebrow at me with interest. Sokka led the way to a butcher's shop. Aang hesitated.

"Oh, we're going to a meat place?"

"Come on, Aang," said Sokka. "Everyone here eats meat...even the meat."

He indicated a nearby cow-hippo, which greedily scavenged a pile of fly-blown fish. Aang cringed at the sight and looked at me.

"Almost every place serves meat," I said, indicating the butcher's shop. "It's a lifestyle."

"But aren't you a vegetarian?" asked Aang curiously.

"I am when it's me who has to hunt the meat." I said with a smile.

"You guys go ahead," said Aang. "I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage."

I waved goodbye to Aang as we entered the restaurant. Before us, the butcher shop looked like a dropping point for manners. Katara and Sokka's face fell agape as we looked upon a bar scene with brawls at each point of the restaurant; bets were placed on each fight with roaring cheers and raucous jeers. Katara and Sokka slunk together as they observed the Fire Nation culture with wide eyes.

The Fire Nation butcher shop was a restaurant and a gambling bit. Fire Nation officers could be off duty and see the shit that went on in here, and nobody could do anything about it. Toph's expression was sheer amusement. I turned to them.

"Aang's Fire Nation knowledge is very out-dated," I warned them. "Do what _I _do, and you won't stick out like a sore thumb, hm?"

The three of them nodded in agreement. I strode toward the check-in counter where a rugged man stood to take in table reserves. He was also the chef of the joint. I could tell; he had an ample amount of animal blood on his apron, and his hands were blood-stained from where he apparently didn't wash them as well as he could. His hair was frazzled and he smelled of copper.

But he was handsome.

He looked at his with interest, for we were younger than the rest of his...patrons.

"Hey, you guys don't look like you're from here, except you," he pointed a bloody finger into my shoulder. Katara winced. The butcher looked straight into my eyes. "You've got them pretty gold eyes. You must be from the Fire Nation capital."

"I am," I said, politely pushing away his jutting finger from my arm. "These three are from the Earth Kingdom colonies. They're not used to a place like this, so you'll excuse them if they are bit weird."

"You speak like you're _in_ the Fire Nation capital," said the butcher with a frown. "You don't have to act so proper. If you haven't realized it yet, this place ain't for mannered types."

I scoffed. Toph's face lit up with surprise as I jumped onto the counter and took the butcher's apron by its collar. The butcher's expression shifted from disapproval to delightful surprise. I dropped the polite tone and said with a sudden rough tone,

"_Get us a damn table or I'll make you taste dirt!"_

He pried my hand away from him, impressed.

"That's what I'm talking about, girlie," he said. "Your table is this way, sweetie."

He threw a crimson-spotted towel over his shoulder and led us to a booth just beside a window. Sokka and Toph took one side. Katara slid in and then I sat down beside her. The butcher looked at the four of us.

"All right, what do you all want? We've got..."

Sokka's eyes watered as the butcher listed all the kinds of meat that he had in stock. Katara and Toph gave him an order of sirloin meat with rice and bean curd on the side. Sokka ordered the special platter. The butcher chuckled.

"The special platter? Boy, do you even know what that is?"

"Well, I've eaten some special stuff in my time. I'm sure I can handle a plate of meat."

"Sokka," I said with a smirk, "the special platter is a course: it's everything on the menu—four plates."

He salivated at the thought.

"I'll have that."

The butcher looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Sokka glanced at me; I beckoned him to the butcher. To Katara's eye-widened astonishment, Sokka climbed over the table and cried out in a high-pitched tone,

"_I want the darn platter!"_

The butcher turned to me and playfully pushed Sokka away from him.

"I like this boy. He learns fast. Now what do you want?"

"The chef's choice," I shrugged.

He frowned slightly.

I crossed my arms on the table.

"Bring me whatever you fucking think I deserve," I added.

The butcher uttered a loud "_HA!"_ and walked away. Katara looked at me.

"So that's how it works in the Fire Nation, huh?"

"Lot different than 'please' and 'thank you', isn't it?" I drawled serenely.

"Well, _I_ like it," said Toph with a wide grin. "It's not like you have to be so calm all the time. Here, you have to make people know what you want and when you want it."

"Yeah," I said. "But in the Fire Nation capital, it's all about P's and Q's."

"Well, if you didn't have to do this when you were at home," asked Katara curiously, "why do you have to do that here? How do you know this stuff?"

"Dad was a sailor," I said simply. "He and I got around a lot. The first time that I went with him, he took me to a place like this. This is where you get to see everybody's violent side." I sighed sadly. "This was where Dad found out that I was..._different._"

"But you're not like all the others, not in here," said Katara, indicating the patrons. "They're mean and hateful. They're savages."

"They're not savages," I said quietly. "They were raised differently. They're raised to be soldiers. Fun doesn't exist in the Fire Nation. It's all about military and fighting and learning how to best a fellow co-worker. Savagery is just how others see us; just like 'evil' is just a word somebody uses to describe somebody that they've stopped trying to understand."

"But, Mura," Sokka retorted, "you've seen what these people can do. What Katara means by savages is—"

I smiled gently and shook my head.

"What she means is that they are not like you," I said softly. "Not everyone in the Fire Nation is a monster. Not everyone in the Fire Nation wants the Avatar dead...not truly, anyway," I added dishearteningly.

Sokka frowned. Katara patted my hand.

They knew that I was thinking of Zuko the entire time that I spoke of the Fire Nation.

He and I were separated. But in my mind, he never left.

Ever.


End file.
